The Department maintains approximately 35-40 assistantships, which are merit-based awards available to students in the M.A./Ph.D. and Ph.D. programs. The vast majority of these are teaching assistantships (TAships), where graduate students assist in the teaching of undergraduate courses and receive a salary for their teaching. A few of these assistantships are for research assistantships (RAships). These students receive a salary for providing assistance to faculty research projects.
Students entering the Ph.D. program with an assistantship receive four years of support. Students admitted to the M.A./Ph.D. program with an assistantship receive five years of support. Continued support is always contingent on satisfactory progress in the graduate program and satisfactory performance of assistantship duties.
Students holding these appointments receive a waiver of the operating fee, building fee, technology fee, and U-PASS fee portions of the quarterly tuition and fees but are required to pay approximately $271 in fees per quarter, or $813 per nine-month academic year. Assistantships automatically include health insurance coverage.
Applicants to the M.A./Ph.D. and Ph.D. programs are automatically considered for graduate assistantships. Funding in subsequent years is renewable based on satisfactory progress in the program and satisfactory performance of assistantship duties.
International students are considered for graduate assistantships on the same basis as U.S. applicants. International applicants who are not native speakers of English must demonstrate English proficiency in order to receive appointment as Teaching Assistants. There are a number of ways this may be established (see Graduate School Policy 3.2 and Graduate School Policy 5.2)
The Graduate School offers a limited number of fellowships for entering students. The Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) offers a limited number of Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to graduate and professional students and applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and who meet designated requirements. The University of Washington’s Office of Student Financial Aid has a variety of need-based funding available to prospective students.