Funding

All students making satisfactory progress through the program receive full financial support for five years. (For five of those ten semesters, students have no teaching responsibilities.) The Department has been able to supply sixth-year funding in all cases where a sixth year was necessary to complete the program. In addition, several kinds of UNC-Chapel Hill fellowships and teaching assistantships are available, some from The Graduate School and others from the Department. Total financial support per year (including income from summer teaching) currently ranges from $26,300 to $34,300 (depending on whether the student wins a competitive University fellowship), along with full tuition, student fees, and health insurance.

Note: those students who wish to be considered for Graduate School fellowships (in addition to Departmental fellowships) should submit their applications by the deadline posted on our Admissions FAQs page.

Graduate students who have completed their M.A. degrees often choose to teach a course during one of UNC’s five-week summer semesters, during which a broad menu of regular undergraduate courses is offered to those undergraduates who wish to proceed through college more quickly.

In addition, the Department’s graduate students have been very successful in winning prestigious national fellowships once here, including Mellon/ACLS, Newcombe, and NSF fellowships. For instance, in recent years, Chapel Hill graduate students won support from Mellon/ACLS, Newcombe, Ford Foundation, and Canada Council Fellowships.