Graduate Funding

The UCSB Department of Linguistics is strongly committed to providing financial assistance to its students. Prospective graduate students can apply for support in the form of fellowships, research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and departmental awards which partially or entirely cover fees, tuition, and/or health insurance. Information on the various forms of support available to incoming UCSB graduate students can be found on the Graduate Division page.

All students pay university fees. Students who do not have official status as California residents also pay tuition until they advance to candidacy. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can establish California residency after one year. The department makes a special effort to ensure that out-of-state domestic students receive financial assistance with non-resident tuition during their first year in the program. All domestic and international applicants are fully considered for graduate funding.

Teaching and Research Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are the most common means of support for graduate students. Teaching and research assistantships are awarded by the department each spring for the following academic year. To be eligible, a student must be in good academic standing and be a full-time registered student. Continuing linguistics students may also apply for TAships in other UCSB departments and programs, such as Asian American Studies, Black Studies, Chicana/o Studies, Feminist Studies, various language departments, and the Writing Program.

The availability of research assistantships is tied to individual faculty research grants. Students must typically have particular skills or background related to the research project in order to qualify for such funding. Both teaching and research assistantships provide a stipend, fees, insurance, and, in some cases, tuition.

Other Forms of Support

Other forms of support are occasionally available through the Department of Linguistics, such as student assistant positions, which pay an hourly wage for assistance with departmental tasks or individual faculty research. Students interested in such positions should notify the Graduate Faculty Advisor.

Domestic students may also be eligible for financial aid and student loans. For more information, see the Graduate Division Prospective Students page.

All students are strongly encouraged to apply for university and/or external funding annually. Highly qualified domestic applicants should investigate external fellowship sources for pre-dissertation graduate study such as the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship Program, the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, all of which provide multiyear funding to eligible students in linguistics. Students should apply for these fellowships in the fall term of the same year they apply to the UCSB graduate program.

Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships may be available for language and area studies for particular languages. Students must be nominated by the UCSB Department of Linguistics for these fellowships.