Funding Resources

PhD Student Fellowships

All newly enrolled PhD students are guaranteed funding support from the University of Chicago, external sources, or a combination of the two for the duration of their program, regardless of citizenship or other factors. Funding support includes a full-tuition scholarship, health insurance (for the student only), coverage of the Graduate Student Services Fee, and a living stipend. The guaranteed minimum stipend level for the 2022-2023 year is $33,000.

Every year, there is intense competition for admission to our doctoral programs. Since we have a limited number of students who we can fund, every year we must turn away many stellar applicants because of limited resources.

Students with external funding may have their University funding adjusted depending on the amount of the external funding. The University is committed to ensuring guaranteed funding levels, and students whose external funding is less than the guaranteed stipend and health insurance, will receive appropriate supplement to their external awards. Questions from prospective or incoming students should be directed to Assistant Dean of Students Lindsey Weglarz (lweglarz@uchicago.edu) or to ssd-admissions@uchicago.edu.

MA Student Scholarships and Financial Aid

All MA applicants who indicate on the graduate application that they would like to be considered for financial aid will be reviewed for merit-based scholarships; there are no separate forms to complete. The Division of the Social Sciences has limited resources, which are allocated based on the criteria of academic record and scholarly promise; financial need and United States citizenship are not factors.

The Division is unable to provide extensive financial support for students in our stand-alone master’s degree programs. We offer a limited number of partial tuition scholarships (one-third tuition, one-half tuition, two-thirds tuition) along with a very small number of full-tuition awards. Students who we admit without a financial award or with partial tuition scholarships pay the balance of tuition from a combination of their own resources and educational loans.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is not required to qualify for University scholarships because these scholarships are merit based, not need based. Please note, however, that the FAFSA is required for federal student loans, the federal work-study program, and for many outside scholarships and grants.

Student Loans for Domestic Master’s Students

Admitted students may need to apply for private or federally-supported loans and/or the federal work-study program to cover any tuition and living expenses not covered by a university award. If you need to subsidize your graduate studies through loans and/or work-study, complete the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) and apply for student loans through the University’s Office of Graduate Financial Aid. When submitting the FAFSA, be sure to fill out the form that corresponds to the year in which you plan to matriculate. Please note that international students are not typically eligible for FAFSA-based loans or Federal Work Study.

The FAFSA should be filed with the Federal Student Aid Information Center by May 1.  The University’s FAFSA code is 001774.

Visit the Office of Graduate Financial Aid website to download loan forms and to search the frequently asked questions. Admitted students who wish to be considered for a student loan should submit a loan application to the Graduate Financial Aid office by the May 31 priority deadline; notifications concerning loan approval are sent out in the summer. Graduate Financial Aid also determines eligibility for the Federal work-study program, though eligible students must seek employment in a University office or organization themselves.

External Fellowships

We encourage applicants to our graduate programs to apply for external fellowships. The UChicagoGRAD office provides robust Fellowship Advising and Writing Support services for our graduate students. They also maintain a Fellowships Database that students can search for available funding.