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Home > Graduate Program : Funding for Incoming Students

Funding for Incoming Students

The department seeks to fully fund all of its students in good standing throughout the length of their residency. This funding typically comes in the form of Graduate Assistantships, where students assist the university by helping with ongoing teaching and/or research initiatives. However, there are various other means by which the department supports its students.

Graduate School Fellowships (GSF) - Award Changes Pending in 2011-12

The U. of M. Graduate School supports the College of Liberal Arts (the college which houses the Department of Sociology) with a number of outstanding first-year fellowship packages. The purpose of the GSF program is to assist directly in the recruitment of outstanding students by providing the incentive of an academic-year merit fellowship. The fellowship provides students with free tuition, pays up to 95% of the student's health insurance costs, and includes a healthy stipend (currently $21,000 per academic year). Top applicants will be noted by the faculty on the Graduate Admissions Committee and may be nominated for the fellowship by the Director of Graduate Studies. Approximately 200 Graduate School Fellowships are available University-wide annually.

In past years, students applying to the Department of Sociology have received a number of these prestigious Graduate School Fellowships, ensuring a comfortable first year of studies. Students being offered a GSF can typically expect their first-year fellowship to be followed by a multi-year offer of departmental funding often guaranteed in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and/or instructor positions.

Diversity of Views and Experiences Fellowships (DOVE)

The purpose of the DOVE fellowship is to assist in the recruitment of outstanding students who are persons of color, those with disabilities, and those otherwise under-represented in the field of sociology—-including those who are the first in their families to graduate from college and pursue a graduate degree. The fellowship provides students with free tuition, pays up to 95% of the student's health insurance costs, and includes a healthy stipend (currently $21,500 per academic year). DOVE Fellows also have the opportunity to come to campus during the summer before the start of their first year and participate in The Community of Scholars Program. By submitting the optional diversity statement with the The Graduate School's ApplyYourself application, applicants self-identify themselves as being from an underrepresented group and position themselves to be recommended by the Sociology admissions Committee and nominated by the Director of Graduate Studies to a University-wide competition. If you do not self-identify as being a person from an underrepresented group, you will not be nominated for the award.

In past years, students applying to the Department of Sociology have received a number of these prestigious DOVE Fellowships, ensuring a comfortable first year of studies. Students being offered a DOVE Fellowship can typically expect their first-year fellowship to be followed by a multi-year offer of departmental funding often guaranteed in the form of a teaching assistantship, a research assistantship, or instructor positions.

Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change Fellowships

The Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) offers six types of financial support for graduate students at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Please visit the program's website to learn more about the fellowships and to find downloadable application forms. As with most other fellowships that Sociology students receive, the department increases the ICGC funding packages by offering multiple years of departmental support most often guaranteed in the form of a teaching assistantship, a research assistantship, or instructor positions. The department has had over 20 MacArthur Scholars (one of the more prestigious ICGC awards).

Ron Anderson Technology and Social Cohesion Fellowship Award

The Ron Anderson Technology and Social Cohesion Fellowship is designed to support sociology graduate students as they pursue research interests related to information technology. The award recipient can be either a single graduate student or a group of sociology graduate students. The fellowship award can be used either to support students already enrolled in the program or to recruit a new student to the Department of Sociology graduate program. The award recipient is given $2,500 and the title of "Anderson Fellow." To receive more information and/or an application form for this fellowship, please contact the Graduate Program Associate, Becky Drasin.

Sociology Research Assistantships

Research Assistants (RAs) are chosen directly by the faculty member who is the principal investigator of a particular research project being conducted in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. RAs typically work halftime (i.e. 20 hours per week), make approximately $14,000 per academic year, and receive a tuition waiver and a health insurance package that includes a waiver of up to 95% of their health care costs plus subsidized dependent and dental coverage. Research assistantships are sometimes offered to incoming students with prior research experience, but are generally filled by more advanced graduate students.

Sociology Teaching Assistantships

The department allocates halftime (i.e. 20 hours per week) Teaching Assistantships to all incoming graduate students who are not otherwise supported by fellowships. Teaching Assistants (TAs) make approximately $14,000 per academic year, and receive a tuition waiver and a health insurance package that includes a waiver of up to 95% of their health care costs plus subsidized dependent and dental coverage.

Professional Development Funds

Professional Development funds are available each semester to cover the expenses of presenting papers while attending international, national, or regional sociology meetings. Generally, this has been a $300-$500 per semester, non-service award to help with transportation, lodging and registration fees. During the 2010-11 academic year, close to 30 current graduate students were awarded more than $14,000 to attend upwards of 15 different conferences including meetings hosted by the ASA, Society for the Study of Social Problems, Law and Society Association, and American Society of Criminology.