Costs and Financial Support
Please consult the Graduate School website for the latest schedule of tuition and fees.
Financial Support
Departmental Support. The department typically supports a portion of the graduate students as Teaching or Research Assistants. Students may not only assist professors in research and teaching but may teach courses on their own. Assistantships include full tuition, a stipend and health insurance. (The amount of the stipend varies from year to year. Information on the amount for the current year is available from the Graduate Chair.) Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. In recent years a high proportion of continuing full-time students applying for aid have received some level of aid. The amount of support available for entering students varies from year to year, in accordance with the university budget and contractural commitments with the Temple University Graduate Students' Association (TUGSA). The department also employs a number of advanced graduate students who have reached the dissertation stage as adjunct faculty. Assisting in research and undergraduate teaching helps graduate students integrate their studies and prepare for examinations, and gives those who plan on pursuing an academic career valuable experience.
In making funding awards, the Graduate Chair/Committee places high priority on a student's academic performance and potential. The following rules and criteria guide the committee's decisions for continuing students:
Students must be making normal progress toward meeting his/her degree requirements. Two incompletes disqualifies a student from consideration for financial assistance. Advanced students should note that no student will be awarded financial assistance who has not successfully defended a dissertation prospectus within a year of passing the comprehensive examinations.
No student will be awarded financial assistance for a second year in the PhD program without having successfully completed P.S. 8601, Teaching Methods. (This is a required course of all doctoral students.)
To spread support more broadly and to provide an incentive for students to move quickly through course work and examinations and into the dissertation, the department typically will not provide financial aid for students who have already had four years of support as a Graduate Assistant.
The graduate committee also considers the extent to which a student's interests and skills fit departmental needs as well as a student's financial need.
In applications for financial assistance, students who have had prior teaching experience, either at Temple or elsewhere, should include syllabi of courses they have taught as well as any student assessments that have been taken.
Non-U.S.A. students seeking support as teaching assistants should note that students whose native language is not English must pass a special test for Competency for Non-native Speakers of English in Instructional Capacity before they can assume any teaching-related positions.
The Political Science Department also houses the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP), which provides research assistantships to graduate students to work on various projects. (See description of the UCCP below.) Students should contact Prof. Barbara Ferman, Director at 215-204-6276 or bferman@temple.edu
Most of the financial aid available is in the form of Teaching and Research assistantships awarded by the Political Science Department. In academic year 2007-08 twenty students were funded with assistantships. The Graduate School also offers a limited number of Presidential and University Fellowshipsn to the best students in the applicant pool.
Graduate School Support. The Graduate School offers Presidential and University Fellowships to the very best applicants on a competitive basis for newly and recently admitted Ph.D. students (and M.A. applicants who are committed to pursuing their Ph.D. at Temple). The department nominates students to the Graduate School for these awards. All application materials for such scholarships, including official report of GRE scores, must arrive at the department no later than January 15th. In addition to excellent grades and GRE scores, applicants are expected to have strong letters of recommendation and a statement of purpose that conveys a sense of the applicant's intellectual evolution and professional trajectory; a good fit between the student's scholarly interests and those of the faculty.
The fellowships in this category are:
- Presidential Fellowships (for doctoral candidates not yet enrolled at Temple): up to $20,000 per year (for 2007-08) plus tuition, for up to two years, plus up to two additional years of support as a teaching and/or research assistant.
- University Fellowships (for doctoral students not yet enrolled at Temple, as well as Temple graduate students who have not earned more than 24 graduate credits): at least $18,000 (for 2007-08) and tuition, for up to two years, plus up to two additional years of support as teaching assistant and/or research assistant.
In addition to these programs, the university has a Future Faculty Fellowship Program for students who intend to become college teachers. The program provides tuition and a stipend comparable to a University Fellowship. Nominees to this program must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applicants interested in this program should craft their statements of purpose carefully, emphasizing both eligibility under one of the criteria below and their commitment to a career in higher education. The following factors are considered in evaluating nominees:
- membership in an ethnic or gender group which is underrepresented in the nominee's discipline;
- record of exceptional and continuous leadership ability in substantial college or community activities;
- likelihood of successfully completing a terminal degree program; and
exceptional circumstances or significant obstacles that a nominee has overcome in preparation for his or her education.
For students nearing completion of their dissertations, the Graduate School offers a limited number of Final Year Doctoral Dissertation Completion Grants. Doctoral candidates with approximately 6 months of anticipated writing to complete their dissertations may apply for this grant. These awards are given on a competitive basis. Students should apply for these awards only when all other department and university support have been exhausted, and when a persuasive case can be made that the dissertation will be completed within the time period of the grant. No more aid will be available after the awarding of such a grant. Several of our recent Ph.D.s have won these awards. Interested students should speak to the Graduate Chair at least one term before they plan to apply for the award. Application can be made in the Spring or Fall semester.
Other Financial Support.
The Office of Student Financial Services (215+204-2244) can advise students about federal and state loan programs.
The department's Graduate Chair and the Graduate School maintain lists of assistantship opportunities in other programs on the campus.
The following offices provide information on graduate student employment opportunities at Temple University. Some of these are hourly jobs, others provide stipends (sometimes with tuition remission and benefits as well). If you did not receive departmental financial aid, you are encouraged to contact these offices as soon as possible:
Student Financial Services, ground floor Conwell/Carnell Hall, 204-8760, fax 204-5262.
Paley Library, Personnel Office, 204-6511, fax 204-5201, www.library.temple.edu
Institute for Survey Research, 502 University Services Building, 204-8355, fax 204-4416.
Measurement and Research Center, 300 Sullivan Hall, 204-8611, fax 204-5647, www.temple.edu/marc
Office of Student Affairs (for Graduate Assistantships), 4th Floor Student Activities Center, 204-7188 www.temple.edu/cares.
Social Science Data Library, 863 Gladfelter Hall, phone: 215+204-5001
Graduate School, 501 Carnell Hall, 215+204-1380, http://mdev.temple.edu/gradschool/prospective/finances/
Composition and Elect reading and writing programs (for teaching). Contact English Department, 215+204-1820, Prof. Eli Goldblatt.
Intellectual Heritage Program. (for teaching). See Prof. Istvan Varkonyi.
Residence assistantships (provide room, board, and some tuition remission in exchange for administrative and personnel services in a dormitory) See Director of Residences at myhousing@temple.edu 215-204-4485.