Types of Support | Applying for Support | Statistics | Pay Scale and Benefits | External Support

Types of Support

The University of Maryland, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Department of History offer several forms of financial support to our graduate students, including University fellowships, teaching assistantships, graduate assistantships, research assistantships, research awards, and travel grants.

The majority of financial support is made available to students in the doctoral program. However, students in the Master of Arts and History & Library Science programs may request support, typically in the form of teaching assistantships, as departmental needs permit.

Multiyear funding packages include a 9.5-month stipend, tuition remission, and a health benefits option, renewable on an annual basis subject to satisfactory progress towards the fulfillment of program requirements. All multiyear packages require that the funded student serve as a teaching assistant for two or more years. The most generous packages guarantee one or two years of support without any teaching obligations.

The general parameters and duties of teaching, graduate, and research assistantships are described in the Graduate Catalog's Policies for Graduate Assistantships.

Doctoral precandidates who have successfully passed the comprehensive examinations may request support for summer work towards the dissertation prospectus. Each spring, doctoral candidates may also apply for one semester of support for dissertation research and writing. Dissertation support is treated as supplemental to the guaranteed multiyear package. Budgetary restrictions may apply.

Additional funding is available to all students through the Research & Travel Grant competitions, matching funds for travel to academic conferences, and various cross-campus funding opportunities.

Applying for Support

Applicants seeking financial support for graduate study should indicate so on the main application. There are no additional requirements to be considered for fellowships and assistantships. Fellowships and assistantships are awarded on the basis of merit, budget, and programmatic balance.

Guidelines for competitive funding opportunities for current students are distributed in the spring semester.

Funding Statistics

A multiyear guarantee of continuous funding is standard among newly matriculating PhD students. Limited exceptions apply for PhD students who enter the program with external support and self-financing. Guaranteed funding is extremely rare for students entering the MA and HiLS programs.

Program-wide, approximately eighty History students will receive financial support through the Department or a major external funding source in order to pursue their graduate studies during the 2009-10 academic year.

Pay Scale and Benefits

For FY2010 (2009-10 academic year), the pay scale for 9.5-month teaching, graduate, and research assistantships will range between $16,467 and $17,500. Fellowships will follow a similar pay scale. Assistantships and fellowships include tuition remission and a health benefits option. Variations in stipend amounts are due to a number of factors, including the type of appointment, international student status, previous appointments, and advancement to candidacy.

Benefits are administered by University Human Resources.

External Support

All doctoral students are expected to make good faith efforts to seek outside funding for pre-dissertation and dissertation field research, as appropriate. The National Scholarships Office and the American Historical Association maintain databases of external funding sources and opportunities.

History graduate students may seek assistantships and hourly employment at other campus units, as well as other forms of external support. University Human Resources maintains a list of Employment Opportunities.

Appointments made outside of the Department may be subject to Payroll, Office of Research Administration and Advancement, and/or International Education Services oversight, when appropriate.

Additional information on the costs and financing options for graduate education is available through the Office of the Bursar and the Office of Student Financial Aid.