Graduate Program Financial Support
Students admitted to our program typically receive financial support from the Department. Departmental financial support is packaged as a combination of teaching assistantship, research assistantship and/or fellowship. Teaching Assistantships for 2024-25 include a minimum salary of ~$34,000 for the nine-month academic year (20 hours of work per week). Typical Teaching Assistant appointments include Graduate Student Health Insurance and payment of tuition and most fees.
The California Resident tuition and fees for 2024-25 are $5,041.35 (tuition, student service and campus-based fees) and the health insurance premium is $2,891 per quarter. Students who are not residents of the state of California are also subject to a $5,034.00 non-resident supplemental tuition per quarter.
UCSB has a limited number of competitive campus-wide fellowships for which the department can nominate you for. To be considered for campus fellowship support, we must receive your completed application by the January deadline. Fellowships are highly competitive and based on general evaluations of your application.
Research Assistantships are funded under existing research grants to faculty members. These positions are usually occupied by senior graduate students who are conducting thesis/dissertation research. Awards to entering students are pre-negotiated directly between the student and a faculty sponsor. You should consider applying for need-based financial aid through the Office of Financial Aid (2103 SAASB,893-2432). For US citizens and permanent legal residents, the application deadline for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is March 2nd. every year (please visit the FAFSA website for current information).
In addition, the Department awards various fellowships and prizes to current graduate students at their end-of-the-year Department Awards Ceremony. For a complete list, see the Graduate Awards page.
UCSB's Graduate Division maintains a financial support page which may be able to assist you in locating sources of funding both inside and outside UCSB.