Funding
The UIC Philosophy Department places a very high priority on providing support for its PhD students. Students who are admitted will be offered five years of funding (contingent on remaining in good academic standing). For many years now, we have also been able to provide at least a sixth year of funding to all who have needed it, and we aim to continue to do so. In particular, we recognize that students whose interdisciplinary work requires a year of study in another department often require additional support.
Teaching Assistantships are the most common form of financial support for our graduate students. These currently provide roughly $23,500/year in support as well as tuition and partial fee waiver. Graduate students may also apply for (though are not guaranteed) summer teaching, which provides an additional $5200 in support.
Additionally, a small number of our students are on fellowships sponsored by the Graduate College. The Graduate College fellowships include the University Fellowship, Dean’s Scholar Fellowship, and various fellowships to promote diversity in higher education, including the Access to Excellence Fellowship, Pipeline to an Inclusive Faculty (PIF) Fellowship, and the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellowship. Most of these carry a stipend of $30,000/year as well as a tuition and partial fee waiver. More information is provided on the Graduate College Funding Overview page, as well as the UIC Graduate College Funding and Awards page.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions; we will answer them as best we can, and we can also put you into direct contact with current students. No one is better prepared to speak to this issue than a graduate student, and one of our own, Emma Fieser, has offered her perspective on living in Chicago on a graduate student salary. You can also contact her directly for more information.