Financial Support and Departmental Awards

The Sociology program offers financial support in the form of a teaching assistantship (TA), a research assistantship (RA), or a fellowship on a competitive basis to qualified students. Financial support includes a tuition waiver, health insurance, and a monthly stipend (with amounts determined by the College of Liberal Arts or the Graduate School in conjunction with the Director of Graduate Studies).

Students with assistantships must maintain full-time registration (at least 8 credit hours) for each fall or spring semester and at least 3 credit hours during the summer semester. This requirement is for each semester for which they receive departmental support.

Recipients of Graduate School Fellowships must be enrolled full-time in a degree-granting graduate program at Purdue University. The Graduate School considers full-time status to be a minimum of eight credit hours in each of the fall and spring sessions, and six credit hours during the summer session. Fellows who have obtained candidacy should consult with their major professor for registration recommendations. Graduate School fellows must be registered to receive stipends.

Students entering the MS program with an offer of funding are generally guaranteed funding for five years: two years to complete the MS degree, two years to complete coursework and preparation for the PhD preliminary examination, and a fifth year of funding to complete the PhD dissertation.

Students entering the PhD program are generally guaranteed funding for three years: two years of funding to complete PhD coursework and preparation for the PhD preliminary examination, and a third year of funding to complete the PhD dissertation.

Students are strongly encouraged to seek external financial support for the PhD dissertation research.

Information regarding Purdue University fellowships and external funding sources is available on the Graduate School website at http://www.gradschool.purdue.edu/funding/.

Funding commitments are conditional: students must remain in good academic standing and must make satisfactory progress towards degree objectives in order to retain funding. This commitment is only for students within the funding time limits. Satisfactory Progress is detailed in Appendix C.