Financial Support

Doctoral Program Funding and Research Support

Doctoral students receive significant funding to ensure that they are able to immerse themselves in the program. All admitted students are eligible to receive an $18,000 stipend for up to 5 years. Students in years six and beyond will receive an 82 percent tuition benefit. The doctoral program involves a full-time commitment. Stipend support is provided in order to allow students to concentrate their time and energy on fulfilling the requirements of the program, developing their scholarship, and completing their doctoral studies in a timely manner.

Many SSA doctoral students receive additional funding through outside training and fellowship programs. SSA students have been very successful in obtaining competitive fellowships and awards from entities such as the National Institutes of Health, the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Program Fellowships, the Fahs-Beck Fund, and the University of Chicago Center for Gender Studies.

As part of their financial aid packages, students are expected in their first two years to work as research assistant with an SSA faculty member for 10-12 hours each week and for three years as a teaching assistant (usually during years three through five).

Advanced doctoral students wishing to supplement their aid packages have access to opportunities to teach in the master's program and to serve as university resident heads.

The SSA Office of Grants and Contracts provides support to doctoral students in:

• Funding Opportunity Searches
• Proposal Planning and Development
• Central Administration/Sponsor Liaison
• Award Administration
• Financial Management/Coordination of Financial Reports to Sponsors

SSA also supports doctoral students to travel for presentation of papers.

In addition to institutional support the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the US Department of Education has established a network of pre-doctoral training programs in US universities. The IES Pre-doctoral Program at the University of Chicago will award a small number of Fellowships during the 2011 – 2012 academic year to PhD students at the University of Chicago. The aim is to help establish “a cadre of education researchers willing and able to conduct a new generation of methodologically rigorous and educationally relevant scientific research that will provide solutions to pressing problems and challenges facing American education.”