Funding Opportunities

We prioritize funding for our doctoral students during the first three years of study, but these depend on department funding and satisfactory academic progress and are thus not guaranteed from year to year. In future years, research assistantships (RAs) or teaching assistantship (TA) might be available. RAs vary from year to year and are assigned by individual faculty members from their funded grants.

Student employment

Appointment as a teaching assistant (TA) or assistant instructor (AI) may involve assisting in academic or laboratory class preparation, in grading and lecture presentation, or in clinical supervision.

Appointment as a graduate research assistant (GRA) may involve research design, data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation. The specific duties will be determined by the supervising faculty member based on the student's level of expertise. These assignments will partially meet the requirements for participation in teaching and research.

OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Fellowships

The Graduate School at The University of Texas at Austin provides a number of fellowships and editorial assistantships in addition to coordinating many externally funded fellowships and awarding college and departmental fellowships based on nominations from departments.

Professional Development Awards

Professional Development Awards provide support for students to attend major professional meetings at which they present an original paper based on their research. The Graduate School allocates travel funds to each program at the beginning of each academic year.

Travel Awards

These awards provide partial support for students to attend professional meetings to present their research. Priority is given to doctoral students who are in candidacy and who can used attendance at the meetings to explore career opportunities. The recommended minimum award is $250 and the maximum awards allowed per trip is $1,000. Awards not submitted by the appropriate deadlines will not be accepted. Students can be nominated for an award as soon as they have an accepted abstract.

Non-Resident Tuition Waiver

One half-time appointment (or 20 hours a week) as a TA, AI, or Graduate Research Assistant qualifies out-of-state residents and their spouses for resident tuition as long as their appointment is current. Under this provision, the tuition is the same as for a Texas resident.

Tuition Reduction Benefit

Students employed as teaching assistants (TAs), assistant instructors (AIs), and graduate research assistants (GRAs) are eligible for a tax-exempt Tuition Reduction Benefit related to their student academic employment. Please note: The Tuition Reduction Benefit REDUCES your tuition bill; it does not pay this amount to you. If you have a Zero balance tuition bill, you will not receive a tuition reduction benefit. The assistance amount varies based on the number of hours of the appointment and the availability of funding, and the benefit is not always available to GRAs.

Student Employment Insurance & Benefits

Graduate students assigned to work in a student academic title for at least 20 hours a week for at least 4.5 months (135 calendar days) are eligible for the university’s employee group insurance benefits.