All Psychology Graduate Students are guaranteed full funding for five years through a combination of Teaching Assistantships (TA), Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions and Fellowships. All funding includes full tuition/fee remission, non-resident supplemental tuition and student health insurance (SHIP). Students must be in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress to receive funding.
Teaching Assistantships
The Psychology Department hires 50% Teaching Assistants. TAs are expected to work 20 hours per week for 12 weeks per quarter. The monthly 50% TA salary for 2024-25 is $3,778 (pre-tax).
Graduate Student Researcher Assistantships
Graduate Student Research (GSR) positions are awarded by individual faculty members from faculty research grants. GSR positions are awarded by your major professor during the admission process, or prior to the beginning of each quarter. Psychology GSRs are paid at Step 4, 50% (20 hours per week) on the GSR salary scale. The monthly Psychology GSR salary for 2024-25 is $3,603 (pre-tax).
Fellowships: Entering Students
Psychology Admissions AND Fellowship deadline: December 1st
Click HERE for a full list of university fellowships for entering first year graduate students.
The Psychology Graduate Program awards a small number of fellowships to entering first year students. Fellowships are awarded based on merit, for one quarter up to one year. To be eligible for all university and department fellowships, complete and submit the fellowship application that is attached to the application for admission. No additional materials are needed.
Psychology Distinguished Scholar Fellowship
This fellowship will provide one year of full financial support and recognizes outstanding academic achievement and potential for research in psychology.
Candidates should meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Demonstrate potential to bring to their academic research the perspective that comes from their understanding of the experiences of groups historically underrepresented in higher education or underserved by academic research generally.
- Provide evidence of academic achievement while overcoming barriers such as economic, social or educational disadvantage.
- Demonstrate potential to contribute to higher education through the understanding of the barriers facing women, domestic minorities, students with disabilities, and members of other groups underrepresented in higher education careers, as evidenced by life experiences and educational background. Examples include, but are not limited to: a. attendance at a minority serving institution; b. ability to articulate the barriers facing women, racial minorities and other groups in fields where they are underrepresented; c. participation in higher education pipeline programs, such as Puente, MESA, Summer Research Opportunity Programs or McNair Scholars.
- Exhibit a record of leadership or significant experience teaching and mentoring students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education.
Provost’s Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences - A limited number of first-year fellowships will be awarded to the top entering students. Make sure to apply by the priority deadline.
Fellowships: Continuing Students
University Fellowships awarded through the Office of Graduate Studies
Application deadline: January 15th
The university awards full year dissertation fellowships to advanced students who have passed the qualifying exam, as well as a few other specialized fellowships for continuing graduate students. A full list of fellowships and application details can be found HERE.
Provost’s Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences - A limited number of Dissertation-Year fellowships for students in the final stages of writing their dissertation are available as well. Students must use the "Internal Fellowships Application" to be considered for these fellowships.
Psychology Dissertation Quarter Fellowships
Application deadline: TBA
The Department of Psychology awards full one-quarter dissertation fellowships to advanced students who have passed the qualifying exam. These fellowships are typically awarded for the winter or spring quarters. Watch for the announcement early in the fall quarter.
Summer Support
Department of Psychology may be able to offer some summer support in the form of 6-week summer session TA’ships, GSR positions or summer supplemental fellowships. Summer support is not guaranteed.