Most PhD students receive full funding packages, either from CCAS or from the Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships (OGSAF).
Full Package
A full Graduate Assistantship and University Fellowship (GAUF) consists of the following for the academic year:
- Up to 18 credits of tuition (fewer if a student has reached or is reaching the 72 credits required for the PhD)
- Stipend of $17,000 (more in some programs)
- Salary of $8,000
Packages are usually renewable for 4 additional years (5 total years of funding), subject to satisfactory academic performance and satisfactory performance of assigned duties. All full packages require full-time study during the academic year.
Departments are welcome to move students off CCAS packages and on to other forms of aid such as endowments or grants. Please let OGS know if you intend on doing this for any of your students. If a student moves off of a CCAS package and onto another University funding source (such as a grant or OGSAF package), this counts toward the total funding commitment made to the student at the time of admission. Funding for advanced students (in year 6 and beyond) is subject to review of satisfactory academic progress. A progress report may be required to use a CCAS package for an advanced student.
Some University packages, such as the Presidential Merit Fellowship, can be slightly different in that students receive a greater stipend or just tuition and stipend (no GA assignment).
Columbian Fellowship
To help support our mission to attract highly qualified students, a new PhD package, the Columbian Fellowship, was offered in Fall 2018. This PhD package offers students full tuition, a stipend of $30,000 (in year one), and $3000 towards the cost of GW health insurance. In year two-five students will receive a stipend of $22,000, full GA salary, and $1750 towards health insurance. Students must meet minimum GPA, GRE and English language scores to qualify. More information on this package will be available in the allocation memo.
Allocation of PhD Packages
PhD package allocations to programs are reviewed on an annual basis. Programs should not assume that their level of funding will remain the same from year to year. A memo detailing the number of packages available will be sent to Chairs and DGS’s in December.
Partial Tuition Awards
If you have a PhD applicant whom you are not recommending for a full package, but who qualifies for admission, consider recommending her or him for a renewable tuition award of $15,000 or less. Such awards do not ordinarily count against a program’s package allocation. OGS will carefully review such recommendations, with no presumption of approval. OGS will never approve such an award after the applicant has accepted admission.
