Financial Assistance

Several Graduate Teaching Assistantships are available to qualified applicants each year. Students entering with a B.A. and intending to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D. in SPEL may be offered up to four years of funding in the form of a teaching assistantship, and students entering with an M.A. in Philosophy and intending to earn a Ph.D. in SPEL may be offered up to two years of funding in the form of a teaching assistantship. Teaching assistantships are offered for one year at a time and are renewed conditional upon the student’s satisfactory progress towards the degree and satisfactory performance as a teaching assistant. A teaching assistantship comes with a stipend of $14,000.00 per year, a full tuition scholarship, and health benefits. Additional funding may be available to teaching assistants in the form of Graduate Scholars Enhancement Funds. Furthermore, some funding may be available through the Graduate Student Organization and/or through the Graduate School Travel Fund for student travel to professional conferences. Students with assistantships can expect to work with faculty in the highly popular undergraduate program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law as well as in other courses in the Philosophy Department. Advanced graduate students have the opportunity to teach their own courses in the Philosophy Department. Students who are not initially offered funding but who enroll in the SPEL program may apply for funding in subsequent years.

There are other opportunities for funding in addition to teaching assistantships. Students who have already earned their M.A. (in SPEL or elsewhere) and who have already served as a teaching assistant (or taught elsewhere) may apply to teach their own courses during summer sessions or winter session.

Students who are in their fourth year (or second year if they entered with an M.A.) and who will be ABD (“all but dissertation”) by a designated date in the spring semester may apply for a Dissertation Assistantship (DA). The philosophy department expects to have one DA available each year. There will be a merit-based competition amongst all qualified SPEL students for this fellowship. The fellowship comes with a full tuition scholarship, benefits, and a stipend equal to the stipend paid to teaching assistants, but carries no teaching obligation.

Applicants to the SPEL program who meet particular “diversity criteria” are encouraged to apply for a Clifford D. Clark Graduate Fellowship for Diversity. “Clark Fellows” are offered (conditional upon satisfactory progress towards the degree) funding for two years to earn a terminal M.A., for five years to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D., and for four years to earn a Ph.D. if entering with an M.A.; one additional year of funding is possible on a competitive basis. The fellowship includes a full tuition scholarship, a stipend of approximately $18,000.00, health benefits, and other miscellaneous benefits. For the fist year, Clark Fellows do not need to work as teaching assistants; in subsequent years Clark Fellows assist in or teach one course per year. For more information, see: http://gradschool.binghamton.edu/cs/clark.asp.

For information on loans and other ways to fund your graduate studies, see: http://gradschool.binghamton.edu/cs/financialinfo.asp.