Funding Opportunities

PhD students who matriculate in Summer 2020 and after will be guaranteed to have funding support from the University of Chicago, external sources, or a combination of the two for the duration of their program (with a maximum time to degree limit of 9 years) to include the following:

• Full tuition coverage
• Annual stipend
• Fully paid individual annual premiums for UChicago's student health insurance (U-SHIP, the University Student Health Insurance Plan)

We expect students to remain in good academic standing and to be making progress toward completing degree requirements. Students are expected to reach candidacy by the start of year 6 to remain in the program.

Students in the Division of the Humanities who entered their PhD program in Summer 2016 or later, and who are still enrolled in 2022-2023 will be fully incorporated into this new funding model, and will receive at least the guaranteed stipend level (subject to applicable taxes), full tuition coverage, and fully paid health insurance premiums for the duration of their program. Students are expected to remain in good academic standing.

Students who matriculated before Summer 2016 will receive at least the funding they were offered at the time of admission and may be eligible for additional funding, such as dissertation completion fellowships.

Funding and Financial Aid Information for Prospective Students

Dissertation Completion Fellowships & Advanced Funding

Students who present a successful dissertation proposal by their fifth year are encouraged to apply for a Humanities Dissertation Completion Fellowships,(DCF). Students who hold a DCF during their 6th year and graduate by the end of their 6th year (Summer), are eligible to receive a 2-year appointment as a Postdoctoral Humanities Teaching Fellow (HTF).

Candidates are eligible to apply for dissertation completion fellowships only if they have completed at least one polished and approved chapter of the dissertation by the application deadline and are in good academic standing demonstrating sustained progress. Fellowship awards often require certification that the dissertation will be completed within the term of the award, and require students to meet minimum qualifications which vary based on the award.

For more information about fellowships and more, graduate students should review the Division of the Humanities website and consult their Departmental Administrator, Director of Graduate Studies, or Dean of Students office.

The Humanities Dean of Students office provides several services to help students find appropriate internal or external funding for research and travel to archives and conferences essential to the progress of their research.

Fellowships exist to help students at all stages of their graduate career, and students are strongly encouraged to educate themselves about such opportunities and to apply for fellowships at the earliest possible moment.

More funding information will be sent periodically by email and/or posted at appropriate times before upcoming deadlines on UChicagoGrad's Fellowship database.

The Division provides up to $400 in reimbursement to PhD students who present their work at a conference. More information can be found on the Division website.

In addition, the Graduate Council Travel Fund provides one-time grants of $350-600.

CLS also offers funds for conference travel. Each grad student is entitled to reimbursements of up to $500 per academic year for conference-related expenses (travel, hotel, registration, etc.). There is no limit on the number of conferences that can make up this $500, but left-over funds from previous years do not roll over into the new academic year. Requests for reimbursements for a given year must be made by the start of the fall quarter of the following year at the latest. Requests for reimbursements made after that will count towards the funds available for the new academic year. For more information, you can contact current CLS officers.