Funding & Financial Aid

History graduate students in the Ph.D. program receive up to 8 semesters of funding, typically as a graduate assistantship. We also strongly encourage you to seek external funding support.

Departmental Awards

Applications for departmental awards are due February 15. Awards are on an annual basis, so you must reapply each year. The application form is included in the Annual Progress Report available from the Graduate Program Coordinator and is circulated as an attachment to the listserv announcement. Ideally, you should request one recommendation from your major advisor and one from your teaching supervisor.

Funding is not guaranteed and is contingent upon annual University/College/Departmental budgets.

Graduate Assistant/Associate in Teaching

Includes a teaching or grading opportunity, a salary, waiver of out-of-state tuition, waiver of in state registration fees, and student health insurance. See the Graduate Assistantship page for more details.

Graduate Registration Scholarship

Provides a waiver of in-state registration fees.

Graduate Tuition Scholarship

Provides a waiver of out-of-state tuition.

Departmental Fellowships

We award a number of internal fellowships to qualified students, meant to help support costs of research projects, such as travel to archives or purchase of copies of specialized material. Typically these are awarded to students working on M.A. theses or doctoral dissertations. The amount of the award varies from year to year.

The application requires a project description and a budget; detailed information about the application process is circulated on the graduate student listserv. The fellowships include:

  • The Richard Cosgrove Research Scholarship awarded to graduate students for research.
  • Donna Guy Fellowship for graduate students doing research in Latin American history.
  • William H. Hesketh Fellowship.  The recipient must have passed comprehensive exams and use the money to support research or deliver a paper at a conference.
  • Sybil Ellingwood Pierce Fellowship for doctoral candidates in the history of the Southwest.
  • The Elizabeth Lantin Ramenofsky Graduate Fellowship in Southwest History
  • The John P. Rockfellow scholarship for an outstanding doctoral candidate in history with preference for candidates in Western U.S. History.
  • The Michael Sweetow fellowship – The recipient must have passed comprehensive exams and use the money to support dissertation research or deliver a paper at a conference.
  • The Edwin S. Turville Fellowship – The recipient must be a doctoral candidate in history, who will use the funds to support completion of the dissertation.
  • Rolf S. and Sarah B. Peters Scholarship Endowment Preference will be given to students who demonstrate financial need and are Arizona residents, but not necessarily United States citizens. Preference will also be given to students who are the first in their family to attend college, but this is not a requirement.

Summer/Winter Teaching

We regard undergraduate teaching as an integral part of our involvement in the University of Arizona community. Our faculty and graduate students have received Excellence in Teaching Awards from the University as well as from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Summer/Winter Session employment opportunities are available to ABD candidates for full course responsibility. Application for Summer/Winter GAT positions is competitive. Criteria for selection are similar to the academic year GAT selection criteria. Summer/Winter GATs have full course responsibility including development of the course syllabus, class instruction, and grade assignment.

Other Funding Sources

Graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply for fellowship support from foundations outside the University of Arizona as well. Further information, as w.ell as assistance with the search process, is available through the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute (SBSRI), Communication 302. 

Additional funding for graduate student research is awarded by the SBSRI; applications are considered in both fall and spring rounds.  Details can be found at the SBSRI website.

See the Graduate College for additional funding and financial information.