APPLY Financial aid for Ph.D. students

The Social Policy program extends generous financial support to Ph.D. students, with the aim of ensuring that all Social Policy students have sufficient resources to complete their studies while enrolled full-time. New resources have been devoted to doctoral education at Harvard in recent years, and in general, those offered admission can be assured a five-year funding plan consisting of tuition coverage, stipend support, summer research funds, and teaching or research fellowships. The financial package will commonly combine fellowships from both Harvard and external sources. Both U.S. residents and international students are fully eligible for Harvard financial support.

A five-year package of Ph.D. support

Recent developments in financial aid policy now permit the Social Policy program to extend a comprehensive five-year funding plan to newly admitted students. In years 1 and 2, the financial support package will generally consist of a full tuition grant, a stipend to cover living expenses, and summer research funds. In years 3 and 4, doctoral students will typically receive a tuition grant and teaching or research fellowships, as needed, to cover living expenses. This generally translates into a modest teaching fellow commitment of two sections per semester to meet living costs. In the final dissertation year, Social Policy students are now eligibile for an assured dissertation completion grant—tuition and a full stipend—that will enable doctoral candidates to focus wholly on dissertation writing at the final stage of their graduate education.

Important external fellowships

Applicants to the Social Policy Ph.D. programs should be aware that there several other important fellowships for which they should now be applying at the graduate school application stage. These are academically prestigious awards that carry three or more years of tuition and full stipend support, often at very generous funding levels. Receiving an external fellowship is both an academic distinction and an invaluable resource for those embarking upon doctoral studies. Those admitted to the Social Policy Ph.D. Programs usually do quite well in these external fellowship competitions, and we strongly encourage all eligible applicants to apply.

Major awards open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents include:

:: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Three-year fellowship of tuition support and $30,000 annual stipend. Deadline for Social Science applicants: November 6, 2007.

:: Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program
Up to four years of tuition support and $30,000 annual stipend. Deadline: October 15, 2007.

:: Ford Foundation Diversity Pre-Doctoral Fellowships
Three-year fellowship of tuition support and $20,000 annual stipend. Membership in a racial or ethnic group that has been historically underrepresented in the American professoriate is one of the criteria considered in selection. Deadline: November 15, 2007.

International students may be eligible for specific fellowships from their home country government or other sources.

Dissertation grants

In addition to the general financial support sources described above, there are many, many other dissertation-stage grants awarded for research in specific topical areas. Many of these are awarded by Harvard research centers and programs, while others come from outside foundations and government sources. These commonly support field research in the US or abroad, or simply free up time—in lieu of teaching fellowships or research assistantships—for sustained dissertation research or writing.

The GSAS Fellowships Office and the Social Policy program keep Ph.D. students apprised of fellowship opportunities and offer fellowship counseling services.

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