How to get your History MA funded

[ReallyNiceGuy]

Bump to help a new poster 

[ReallyNiceGuy]

Re-bump for present questions

[Katzenmusik]

Temple University in Philadelphia is offering some tuition waivers and fellowships for MA students in the Public History program.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Katzenmusik

[franglais799]

Anyone know about any charities or philanthropies sponsoring scholarships/fellowships that could be applied to schools in the UK? I got into Cambridge, but I doubt I'll be receiving a Marshall or a Gates scholarship anytime soon... :/

[Henry Hudson]

Getting funding for UK MA programs seems like a wild goose chase, based upon comments I have heard from well-qualified North Americans who have made the effort. 

 

Canadian MA programs can be decently funded, enough to live on and eke through, although Ontario schools have become less well funded for non-Canadians in the past few years. 

[Glo Fish]

Indiana University (Bloomington) funded (plus a good stipend) a large majority of their MA students this past fall. But this is because they accept so few PhD students nowadays and didn't have enough PhD students to serve as course assistants/teaching assistants. 

[djp2]

Canadian MA programs can be decently funded, enough to live on and eke through, although Ontario schools have become less well funded for non-Canadians in the past few years. 

 

 

For what it's worth, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver tends to fully fund its entire MA cohort (which can be quite small). It's an incredibly welcoming department with great faculty.

[elbeeeeen]

Does anyone have any updates or additions to this list? I've been looking into MAs. Thank you!!

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I just received an MA in English. I had funding through an assistantship, but no waiver of tuition. My school funds all GAs through the grad school, not the department, so the funding is never apparent nor advertised. Once accepted into a program one must apply for an assistantship. As an undergrad at the university, I had always seen student workers in the departments, but then had a friend who was a GA. I asked her about it, so knew when I applied for MA that some funding was available.

Although I am beginning a PhD in English this fall, I do wish that I had thought of the double major of English/History when I was a new undergrad. I could have gained an MA at the same time I was getting one in English. The two disciplines work so well together, especially with my focus in 20th century literature.

[AP]

On 11/19/2013 at 5:44 AM, franglais799 said:

Anyone know about any charities or philanthropies sponsoring scholarships/fellowships that could be applied to schools in the UK? I got into Cambridge, but I doubt I'll be receiving a Marshall or a Gates scholarship anytime soon... :/

Mine was funded by a NGO from my country (which doesn't exist anymore). 

[thebeachbum]

This info is from several years ago, but it may be worth checking these programs out. I'd guess that most are still offering funded MAs and, perhaps, the stipend rate has increased a bit. 

Boston College (full funding for MA-tuition and $24,000 stipend in 2013), University of Delaware (full funding for MA-tuition and $16,500 stipend in 2013), University of Kentucky (full tuition, $9,000 stipend in 2013), University of Miami (Ohio)- (full tuition, $12,000 stipend in 2013), Virginia Commonwealth University (full tuition for MA, $10,000 stipend in 2013). 

[emhafe]

Schools looking to grow their program or revamp it seem more willing to offer funding from my experience. I took a leap of faith on a basically unknown public history program because it provided a graduate assistantship. It was certainly in flux and I'm not sure how I feel about my experiences there, but it didn't stop me from getting into my dream PhD program. So, if you're willing to take a risk, it could be worth the lack of MA debt.

[love2read]

Just adding on to what emhafe suggested.  Even though they were not in singular history field, I applied to several MA programs (two in the UK) and 2 PhD programs. After all the acceptances/waitlists/denials came through, I was trying to decide whether to take on any debt in order to obtain a masters.  I ultimately decided that wouldn't be wise for me (I already will have some undergrad loans to pay back) .  I was thrilled to be accepted in a fairly new MA program in Material Culture and Public Humanities at Virginia Tech.  I received full funding (over 17K per year - including all fees- and a TA position) .  I feel very fortunate to be able to be a part of this program and carve out my path.  It is a cross-disciplinary program and the professors with whom I have spoken seem to be very supportive and encouraging.  They really want to grow this masters and make it into being something special.  I don't know about the funding for a MA in History at VT, but you could definitely check it out.  The history department is amazing there.

[Katzenmusik]

Update to the list of funded MAs:

Indiana University - Bloomington's history department web site no longer says that they fund most students who enter at the MA and PhD levels.  It now says "Terminal MA students do not receive department based funding." 

Just wanted to note this for peoples' future reference.

As always, do your own research on program funding! I posted my list of funded MAs (above) five years ago now (!) and things may have changed. It was always meant to be a starting point.

I do hope people continue to explore funded MAs.  For the love of all that is holy, please avoid going into massive debt for this degree. 

Get into a funded program, strive to produce the best work you possibly can, then bounce up to an excellent PhD program. Afterward you will be so glad you don't have a 40K Ivy League MA loan chained to your ankle. 

[FrankJEspin]

Wanted to add the University of New Mexico to the list of funded MAs or programs where MA students are eligible for funding. UNM is working really hard to turn their MA program into a sending program towards good Ph.D. programs. Cost of living in Albuquerque is cheap and tuition is overall pretty low too if you aren't offered funding. 

I'm graduating this semester and headed to Brown or Michigan and have a couple of colleagues who are in similar positions. 

The department is especially strong in US West, Latin America, and the Middle Ages. 

[Account6567]

24 minutes ago, FrankJEspin said:

Wanted to add the University of New Mexico to the list of funded MAs or programs where MA students are eligible for funding. UNM is working really hard to turn their MA program into a sending program towards good Ph.D. programs.

Just curious, why is UNM doing that? Like, what benefits does it offer a school to be funding their MAs to become a sending program?

[Katzenmusik]

4 hours ago, Account6567 said:

Just curious, why is UNM doing that? Like, what benefits does it offer a school to be funding their MAs to become a sending program?

My guess would be that they want to shrink their PhD program (possibly for ethical/job-market reasons) but still need grad students to help TA.  Hence the move to fund MA students. Funding will attract good applicants, and they can help those people achieve their goals.

[MastigosAtLarge]

On 6/15/2017 at 10:08 AM, thebeachbum said:

This info is from several years ago, but it may be worth checking these programs out. I'd guess that most are still offering funded MAs and, perhaps, the stipend rate has increased a bit. 

Boston College (full funding for MA-tuition and $24,000 stipend in 2013), University of Delaware (full funding for MA-tuition and $16,500 stipend in 2013), University of Kentucky (full tuition, $9,000 stipend in 2013), University of Miami (Ohio)- (full tuition, $12,000 stipend in 2013), Virginia Commonwealth University (full tuition for MA, $10,000 stipend in 2013). 

Boston College does not offer tuition remission for MAs anymore, nor health insurance, and my TA stipend was  ~$23,000 for MA.  But not everyone's given a TA-ship.

Edited March 18, 2018 by MastigosAtLarge
Grammar

[Saltwater]

This is tricky. It depends on individual programs, their funding situation, and number of incoming freshman and other things. Here is my story.

 

I applied to UC Irvine for their MA and got accepted. As a result of increased freshman, and the funding situation, I was able to acquire funding while others on the MA course we’re not. The only thing I can say is discuss and strategize with your POI. Faculty can have a big pull on who gets funding. 

[amyruplinger]

On 3/17/2013 at 9:45 PM, truthfinder said:

Come to Canada 2/3 applications I made were funded - and the one was funded incredibly well.  Then again, it is not typical to be a direct entry into PhD in Canada, you have to do an MA first (and more often than not, it's 2 years).

Can I ask where you applied?

[truthfinder]

20 hours ago, amyruplinger said:

Can I ask where you applied?

Wow, it's been 10 years haha

I had applied at UVic and UCalgary.  They're still funded.  I'm not sure the advice about a 2 year MA still holds; some programs have begun to transition to 1 year MAs with a "major research project" rather than a masters' thesis.