Frequently Asked Questions, continued.

What type of financial support do PhD students receive?

All applicants who are admitted to the PhD Program (in the upcoming admission cycle) will be guaranteed five years of financial support, including coverage of most of the tuition/fee costs. The support may come in the form of guaranteed TA positions on campus, other forms of campus employment, non-employment financial awards, or any combination of the three.  The most common form of support is a 50% TA appointment on campus, and the current nine-month salary of a first-time TA with a 50% appointment is $34,000.00. As the actual financial support package for each admitted student may vary, applicants should refer to the financial support package letter that they receive upon being admitted.

As many financial support packages will include a guaranteed TA position for one or more years, please note the following policies regarding this guarantee:

• Students first year of TA postiions will be within the Literature Department, and they will not need to submit an application. They will be assigned to a particular position based on their qualifications and the department needs.
• In subsequent years, students are responsible for submitting on-time and complete applications to as many open TA positions as possible (for which they are qualified). Students should absolutely apply to the College Writing Programs and the Literature Department, at the bare minimum.
• Students are responsible for accepting the first year-long 50% TA position offer they receive. 

Above a beyond the salary/stipend amounts paid directly to the student, the financial support guarantee includes most of the tuition and fee costs charged to student each quarter.  This includes the base tuition charge (currently $4,254 per quarter), the Student Services Fee (currently $418 per quarter), the Health Insurance premium (currently $1,881 per quarter), and most of the remaining campus fees (currently $360.25 per quarter). The fees that are left for the student to pay themselves is the one-time $100 document fee charged to newly admitted students and the UCGPC Systemwide Fee (currently $7 for the year, with students able to "opt out" if they wish).

Non-Residents (domestic students who are not California residents) will also be charged Nonresident Supplemental Tuition in the amount of $5,034 each quarter. Our department supports these students by paying this Nonresident Supplemental Tuition for their first year in the program (totaling approximately $15,102). Prior to the start of the second year, it is expected that these students will apply for California residency for tuition purposes. Once they have this residency status, they will not be charged Nonresident Supplemental Tuition.  Should they choose not to file for residency, they will be required to pay the cost of the Nonresident Supplemental Tuition after the first year.

International students will also be charged Nonresident Supplemental Tuition in the amount of approximately $5,034 each quarter. Our department supports these students by paying this Nonresident Supplemental Tuition for their first ten quarters of enrollment (or through the quarter of advancement to candidacy, if that happens before the tenth quarter). After international students have advanced to candidacy, the Nonresident Supplemental Tuition is waived for the next nine consecutive quarters, which is sufficient time for students to finish your dissertation. If international students remain enrolled in the program after their post-candidacy NRST waiver quarters, they will be responsible for paying the quarterly NRST charge themselves.

Financial support (including employment, non-employment financial awards, and tuition/fee payments) is contingent upon fulltime registration (12 units/quarter), satisfactory progress toward degree completion, relevant campus time limits, and remaining in good academic standing.

I do not know what I want to do in graduate school. Can I talk to an advisor in the department?

Please contact a career counselor or faculty advisor at your educational institution. You may also want to talk to professors who taught your courses.

Can I visit the campus and talk to the graduate advisor or a particular professor?

You are always welcome to visit us, but it is best to make meeting arrangements in advance. If you would like to meet with a particular faculty, please contact them directly to arrange a time. Please keep in mind that there may be times when faculty members are not able to meet with prospective students. This is true in the summer and any holidays. Please be respectful of the professors' time.

What if I can't get all the information submitted by the deadline?

Make sure your online application is submitted by the due date. We cannot accept late applications. If the professor who is writing you a recommendation is late, we can wait a couple of weeks at most for the letter to be uploaded into GradApply. However, we cannot consider an application that has no supporting documents.

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