Fully funded PhD programs in Sociology

[MME]

I am looking to start this thread giving insight on which American universities that offer a PhD program in Sociology "guarantee" full funding and the degrees of this concept of full funding through the firsthand experience of current PhD students.

I encourage to you, whether applicant, student or PhD holder in Sociology to add your thoughts, experiences and feedback on this issue.

I believe this can be beneficial to all of us because I may even venture to conspire that there may be correlation with the college's policy and/or the situation of each Sociology of department.

[MME]

The New School

New York, NY

Department of Sociology

Insight: cannot apply to PhD directly, must do a previous MA. No established funding for students. First hand feedback from a professor that only 3-6 gain a some-thousand dollar like scholarship per year. Considered a very informal sociology program. Some fellowship opportunities from resources out of the department.

[MME]

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

Department of Sociology

Insight: Merit based funding, so nothing is guaranteed even though The Chicago School is worldwide renowned for their Sociology program; "Tuition-only scholarships and fellowships—which include tuition and a stipend— are awarded on a competitive basis to outstanding applicants." from https://sociology.uchicago.edu/content/fellowships-and-resources

[MME]

University of Michigan

Ann Arbour, MI

Department of Sociology

Insight: "All students admitted to the Sociology Ph.D. Program are provided with five-year funding packages. Typically, these funding packages consist of a combination of fellowships and graduate student instructorships from a variety of resources including the Sociology Department and the Rackham Graduate School, and through traineeships from the Population Studies Center (for those interested in demography), all of which include a full tuition waiver and health care benefits."   from https://lsa.umich.edu/soc/graduates/financial-support.html

[purpleatheart1994]

Hi MME, thanks for starting this thread!

 

Notre Dame, Michigan

The Department of Sociology offers financial support in the form of fellowships, graduate assistantships, and tuition scholarships. Most incoming students receive either a fellowship or assistantship which provides full tuition plus a stipend for living expenses for five years, contingent upon making satisfactory progress in the program.

19) Does the program admit students without funding?
All students who are admitted to our program will be given a full tuition scholarship and a stipend to work as a Graduate Assistant in the department

Edited October 14, 2018 by purpleatheart1994

[MME]

thank you for your input @purpleatheart1994 - welcome to the thread!

[manofthehoff]

It's very common in general for PhDs in the US to be fully funded, though this often takes the form of a guaranteed TA position. I'd be surprised if any of the top 30 programs don't fund all their incoming grad students, even if they don't advertise it as "guaranteed." It often takes the form of TA positions. It's best to reach out to programs directly. 

[MME]

Thank you @manofthehoff - I had the same preconception of funding in top programs, but I've found it not to be necessarily always the case. Especially when funding is depended upon competition between PhD students (already in the department). I'm also entertaining the idea of what it means for a program to be "fully funded" and what we may take away from, from the word "fully" - may that entail health insurance, housing, additional stipend...what more than waiving tuition? Either way, I will continue posting more of the websites information provided but I certainly agree with you that it is beach to reach out to those departments directly. Sometimes they way have virtually all students on fenomenal fellowships but just because a student or two didn't get them, that makes it unable for the program to claim that fully funding is a guarantee.

As a disclaimer, I'm no expert of any of this, just another prospective student getting acquainted with more scholars and their respective programs, and sharing some of the feedback of friends at graduate Sociology programs. 

[MME]

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR

Department of Sociology

"The department attempts to provide all eligible graduate students with financial awards for at least part of the time in which they enroll. This funding is currently set for a minimum of 15 terms. Students should be prepared to rely on their own financial resources for some portion of their residence in the department." https://sociology.uoregon.edu/graduate-stuff/funding/

[MME]

Rutgers University

New Brunswick, NJ

Department of Sociology

"We make every effort to fund all admitted students, usually in a package consisting of up to two years of fellowship followed by up to three years of teaching assistantship."  https://sociology.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate/admissions

Seems like the same reoccurring remark of there being funding for 5 years but not necessarily guaranteed in time or amount of funding.

[MME]

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX

Department of Sociology

"A small number (4-5) of department-assigned funding slots are reserved for incoming students. These are awarded based on a committee review that begins in February. Entry cohorts are about 12-15 new students each Fall. This means that about 1 in 3 new students enter with department-assigned funding. Many of the other new students find financial support from one of the many other sources once they are enrolled and on campus and in position to respond to seek out available opportunities."   https://sociology.tamu.edu/funding/

[MME]

Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN

Department of Sociology

This department appears to fund their students fully! It states everything their financial support covers, plus the stipend, and the form of supporting through a TA or RA.

"Applicants to the graduate program are automatically considered for departmental funding. The sociology program offers financial support in the form of teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA). University and College sponsored fellowships are also available on a competitive basis. All admitted students are funded in one of the above manners.

This financial support includes a monthly stipend, a waiver of tuition, and health care. Stipend amounts are determined by the College of Liberal Arts or the Graduate School. Current stipends range from $19,000 to $24,000. The cost of living is relatively low in West Lafayette/Lafayette, but if additional assistance is needed information regarding student loans is available from the Purdue Division of Financial Aid"   https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/sociology/graduate/apply/Financial Assistance.html

[MME]

University of Washington

Seattle, WA

Department of Sociology

"admitted students are typically offered a multi-year funding package as part of their offer of admission.  The vast majority of our students are funded throughout their time in graduate school, with a mix of teaching positions, research assistantships, and fellowships."  https://soc.washington.edu/admissions-funding-your-graduate-education

This is added information on the TAs: "The Department of Sociology typically awards between thirty and forty teaching assistantships per year. Ordinarily, about one-fourth to one-third of these are open to first year students. Teaching assistants aid faculty in teaching one or more courses. Duties vary somewhat, but frequently entail leading discussion sections in undergraduate courses.  TAs work about twenty hours a week and receive a tuition waiver and a stipend for the nine-month academic year.  Students are responsible for a student service fee per quarter." In other words, it is not guaranteed but they certainly have many resources. Nevertheless there is still a fee to pay even if you do get the TAship.

[MME]

Washington State University

Pullman, WA

Department of Sociology

Not everyone receives an assistantship...  "Students receiving an assistantship work 20 hours per week with faculty. The assistantship provides graduate students with a financial stipend, a health insurance package, and an operation fee waiver for tuition. The total financial worth of the assistantship exceeds $30,000 for the current academic year."  https://soc.wsu.edu/graduate-program/prospective-graduate-students/faqs/

Additionally, international students require evidence of financial support, which in essence may depend upon the package offered upon admission. It would be interesting to know whether this evidence of being able to pay is required before or after admissions.

[MME]

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA

Department of Sociology

"Some sources of financial support most commonly available to sociology graduate students are listed below. The sums awarded and conditions of awards may change, so you should check with the graduate director or with the graduate administrator for updated details."  http://www.sociology.pitt.edu/graduate/funding-fellowships-and-awards

Or in other words, they have resources but nothing like a set funding packet for every admitted student that may waive off tuition, fees, insurance, plus a stipend.

[MME]

Colorado State University

Colorado Springs, CO

Department of Sociology

Not fully funded and not every student is funded, yet there are still options; "Many of CSU Sociology’s graduate students are funded by teaching or research assistantships that help support living expenses and cover tuition costs. These experiences are more than just financially beneficial, they help our graduate students integrate into the department and expand their skills. "  https://sociology.colostate.edu/graduate/awards-and-funding/

[MME]

Wayne State University

Detroit, MI

Department of Sociology

Barely much funding, especially if you are still in the masters stage of the PhD program; "The department is allotted eight Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs) by the university each year. Normally, GTAs are selected from students who are making satisfactory academic progress in the doctoral program in sociology. In rare cases an advanced Masters student is given a GTA position. Stipend amounts depend upon prior experience and whether assistants hold a Masters degree. A GTA is expected to assist a faculty member or teach her/his own course (depending on amount of prior teaching experience)"  http://www.clas.wayne.edu/Sociology/Scholarships--Awards

[MME]

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, IL

Department of Sociology

Only for PhD students, since they have a terminal MA. "Fellowships, assistantships, and tuition scholarships are available to a limited number of qualified full-time students in the PhD program" and also not fully funded.  https://www.luc.edu/sociology/gssupport.shtml

[MME]

University of California Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, CA

Department of Sociology

Several fellowships that students can apply, nothing is promised, it is on a competitive basis and most certainly not full. After reading their website the sense one gets is that students will struggle financially since the website itself tries to address how to avoid that from happening.  https://sociology.ucsc.edu/graduate/prospective-students/funding-opportunities.html

*This seems to be a reoccurring thing with the University of California System

Edited November 1, 2018 by MME

[MME]

University of Illinois Chicago

Chicago, IL

Department of Sociology

Fully funded for 5-years. "Funding in the form of a teaching assistantship is guaranteed for 5 years to our graduate students, as long as they remain in good standing and meet department benchmarks. Sociology graduate students can expect funding through a teaching or research assistantship for their first five years as long as they remain in good standing", includes a tuition waiver  https://soc.uic.edu/graduate/funding/

[MME]

University of California Riverside

Riverside, CA

Department of Sociology

not fully funded, yet funded in some ways, ...vague explanation but there are some options "We typically fund graduate students for four years through a combination of fellowships and teaching assistantships (via contract)"  http://sociology.ucr.edu/graduate-program__trashed/prospective-grad-student-info/

[MME]

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Most certainly not fully funded, it is described as a preference, "Fellowships and assistantships are awarded to full-time degree candidates through the Graduate Office, at the recommendation our department. There is no separate application for assistantships. Students can indicate interest in an assistantship via the “Financial Assistance” section in the online admission application. Please note that your tuition scholarship can take up to 8 weeks to process. Please pay any fees not covered by your award by the due date to avoid a Hold or Late Fee"  https://cssh.northeastern.edu/socant/graduate/financial-aid-and-awards/

[AnnaGG]

Notre Dame fully funds students with a pretty neat stipend

[MME]

Thank you @AnnaGG for your input. I've looked at the website and they give a lot of information detailing their financial support.

--

University of Notre Dame

South Bend, IN

Department of Sociology

"The Department of Sociology offers financial support in the form of fellowships, graduate assistantships, and tuition scholarships. Most incoming students receive either a fellowship or assistantship which provides full tuition plus a stipend for living expenses for five years, contingent upon making satisfactory progress in the program. Students receiving graduate assistantships are assigned to either work on faculty research projects or to assist faculty with their teaching. Most 12 month stipends starting in August 2017 are $21,500. Given the low cost of living in South Bend, our stipends are very competitive with those of other universities."  https://sociology.nd.edu/graduate-program/applying-to-the-program/

[TheBunny]

On 11/1/2018 at 10:53 AM, MME said:

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Most certainly not fully funded, it is described as a preference, "Fellowships and assistantships are awarded to full-time degree candidates through the Graduate Office, at the recommendation our department. There is no separate application for assistantships. Students can indicate interest in an assistantship via the “Financial Assistance” section in the online admission application. Please note that your tuition scholarship can take up to 8 weeks to process. Please pay any fees not covered by your award by the due date to avoid a Hold or Late Fee"  https://cssh.northeastern.edu/socant/graduate/financial-aid-and-awards/

Northeastern has a fully funded Ph.D. in Sociology as far as I know. Below the website, it says that all Ph.D. students in Sociology offered RA or TA positions which includes health plan and tuition remission.