Paying For School

Graduate Funding Opportunities

In a typical year, highly competitive Ph.D. students are provided with the following support: a tuition waiver that covers 14 hours of graduate tuition, 10-20 hours per week of graduate research or teaching assistant appointments carrying a salary stipend, health insurance benefits, and a $1,500 conference travel stipend. Although packages can vary from year to year, Minnesota’s doctoral students are among the most highly compensated in U.S. journalism and mass communication graduate programs.

Competitive academic MA students may also receive generous funding, including teaching/research appointments carrying a salary stipend, tuition wavers, health insurance benefits and a $750 conference travel stipend.

Professional MA students are eligible to apply to a growing scholarship program dedicated to students in this professional program. Professional MA students generally do not receive fellowships or assistantships.

Graduate Scholarships, Fellowships, and Assistantships

For academic MA and PhD students, fellowship and scholarship awards are made as part of the admission process (submit the Application for Financial Support with your Application for admission) and may be renewed depending on funding and availability. Professional MA students will have the opportunity to apply for scholarships after they have started in the program. SJMC awards include:

Stanley W. Carlson Graduate Scholarship
Hazel Dicken-Garcia Graduate Fellowship
Herbert Berridge Elliston Graduate Scholarship
Arle and Billy Haeberle Scholarship
Haeberle Broadcast
Hubbard Broadcasting Scholarship
Hubbard Graduate Fellowship
Joel and Laurie Kramer School of Journalism Fund
DJ Leary Strategic Communication Fellowship for Strategic Communication graduate students
Mass Comm Block Grant
Marsha and Dr. James Marsh Sternberg Scholarship
Tunheim Partnership Scholarship
Ray Tarleton Strategic Communication Fellowship
Vincent Bancroft Shea Fellowship
William D.Wells Graduate Fellowship
William D. Wells Graduate Fellowship in Strategic Mass Communication

Silha Center Research Fellowship in Ethics and Law

Silha Fellowships offer graduate and law students the opportunity to engage in a variety of research projects in media ethics and law. Silha Fellowships are available to graduate students who have demonstrated interest and ability in the study of mass communication ethics and/or law. For further information about the Silha Fellowship Program, visit http://www.silha.umn.edu.

SJMC Graduate Assistantships

In addition to scholarship and fellowship awards, graduate students may seek positions as research or teaching assistants. These positions involve quarter- or half-time appointments as assistants to the faculty and staff of the SJMC. Students obtaining assistantships are eligible for resident tuition rates and partial or full tuition waivers depending on their appointment (50% tuition waiver for quarter-time assistantship; 100% tuition waiver for half-time assistantship), as well as health insurance benefits.

Teaching assistantships are awarded to graduate students who have highly developed verbal proficiency in English and demonstrated degree objectives, scholarly achievement, experience, and financial need. Research assistantships may be available in association with faculty and center research projects.

Research Funding

The University of Minnesota and the SJMC each offer special funding opportunities for conducting graduate student research. These opportunities range from travel funding to help mitigate the cost of presenting research at national conferences to a full fellowship for advanced Ph.D. students ready to embark upon writing their dissertation.

Kriss Research Support Grants
These grants are designed to provide assistance to mass communication M.A. and Ph.D. students in meeting direct costs associated with research.
Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award
A bequest to SJMC from funds left by the School’s distinguished first director makes possible these annual awards for outstanding, meritorious dissertation research projects.
CLA Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP)
This program encourages graduate students enrolled in graduate programs housed within the college to partner with a College of Liberal Arts (CLA) faculty project advisor on projects of shared interest and provides GRPP fellows with a summer research stipend.
Costello Travel Funds
Graduate students presenting papers at academic conferences and professional meetings are eligible to apply for Costello Travel Funds to help defray the cost of transportation to areas outside the Twin Cities.

University-wide Fellowships

CLA Graduate Fellowships
Intended for recruiting outstanding new students to the university’s graduate programs, these one-year fellowships provide a stipend of approximately $22,000 for the academic year plus tuition for up to 14 credits per semester and health insurance coverage (fees not included). Students of superior ability who are admitted to the program are nominated for these fellowships by the SJMC faculty.
Diversity Of Views And Experiences Fellowships
Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents entering the Graduate School for the first time may be nominated. These one-year fellowships provide a stipend of approximately $22,500 for the academic year plus tuition for up to 14 credits per semester and health insurance coverage (fees not included). Students of superior ability who are admitted to the program and meet the fellowship criteria are nominated by the SJMC faculty.
ICGC-Mellon Scholar Fellowship
The fellowship supports graduate students whose research interests emphasize humanistic and interpretive social science perspectives. Students are nominated by the department and should have backgrounds and interests which identify them as outstanding students who are clearly committed to the interdisciplinary study of the global south in the context of global change.
Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
The purpose of the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship program is to give outstanding final-year Ph.D. candidates who are making timely progress toward the degree an opportunity to devote full-time effort to the research and writing of the dissertation. The top candidate for the Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award is nominated for this fellowship by the SJMC faculty. The award includes a stipend of approximately $22,500 for the academic year and tuition and health insurance coverage.

Loans

For information, about educational loans, visit http://www.onestop.umn.edu and click on“Financial Aid”, or contact the OneStop Student Services office at 612-624-1111 or onestop@umn.edu.

For more information on financing your graduate education, visit http://www.grad.umn.edu/admissions/funding/index.html.