Funding

Tuition and Fees

Students registered for nine or more credit hours in the Graduate School are considered full-time students. Students who teach usually register for part-time course work. For more information about tuition and fees, you can visit the Cashier's Office website.

Financial Aid

For enrolled students, financial aid from the Department is limited to Research Assistantships, Teaching Fellowships, limited travel support, and competitive dissertation fellowships.

Research Assistantships: Any available Research Assistantships are awarded by the department Chair, in consultation with the graduate program, on the basis of merit and Departmental needs.  All students in good standing are automatically considered.  The award calls for approximately ten hours of work per week in specific research functions.

Teaching Fellowships:  Students who hold an M.A. or who complete the first year of the M.A. program by the end of the Spring semester are eligible to apply for Teaching Fellowships (TF).  TF applications are available from the Writing Program Office and should be submitted by February 1.  In evaluating an application the following criteria are considered:

For a copy of the Department’s “Policies and Procedures for Appointing Teaching Fellows,” please stop by the Writing Program Office (GL 202).

Travel Support:  The Department sometimes has money to support travel to conferences when students are presenting papers. Students will receive from the Graduate Studies Office announcements of deadlines and requirements for application when such awards are available. Go here for more information. The Graduate School also sometimes provides one-time travel support.  Students should check with the Fellowship Office at the Graduate School for more information. 

Dissertation Fellowships:  The department offers a limited number of competitive dissertation fellowships with the aim of releasing students from teaching to concentrate on their writing during a semester or a summer.  Applications will be invited in the Fall and Spring for the following term.  The principal criterion considered is the quality of the project description, with some consideration given to the excellence of the applicant’s overall academic record and timely progress toward the degree.

Other forms of financial aid, including work study and student loans, are handled by the Student Aid Office in Vance Hall (962-8396)

Residence Status for Tuition Payments
 Every applicant for admission is required to state his or her length of residence in North Carolina. The tuition charge for legal residents of North Carolina is less than that for nonresidents. To qualify for in-state tuition, a legal resident must have maintained his or her domicile in North Carolina for at least twelve months immediately prior to classification as a resident for tuition purposes. In order to be eligible for such classification, students must establish that their presence in the State during the twelve-month period was for purposes of maintaining a bona fide domicile rather than mere temporary residence incident to enrollment in a university.

Prospective students who believe that they are entitled to be classified residents for tuition purposes should be aware that the processing of requests and appeals can take a long time and that applications for classification should not be delayed until registration. For more information contact their website.

Fellowships and Assistantships
 Applicants to the English Department are automatically considered for University Fellowships and Assistantships if the appropriate box is checked on the application form. All applications from prospective students for Graduate School awards must be completed by January 1st. In addition, the Department awards Teaching Fellowships (usually not available in the summer). Students entering the M.A. program are eligible for teaching fellowships in their second year of enrollment. Teaching Fellows have full instructional responsibility for sections of beginning composition courses. Currently the stipend of a Teaching Fellow is $7000 per semester for one course or section of either Rhetoric and Composition or Literature.  It may be possible for some graduate students to teach a second section or course in certain semesters, for an additional one-semester stipend of $4500 . Teaching Fellows are trained and supervised by the Director of Composition and are subject to student and faculty evaluation. Students making adequate academic progress are eligible for full teaching contracts (two sections per academic year for an annual stipend of $14,000) in their second year of teaching.” Subject to approval from the Dean's Office, Teaching Fellowships can include remission to in-state tuition and fees. Teaching Fellows may also be eligible for health insurance coverage. Ph.D. applicants who wish to be considered for a Teaching Fellowship should include in their application a resume showing educational background, pedagogical training, teaching or other pertinent experience, and--if possible--a confidential letter of recommendation specifically addressing teaching potential. Requests for further information should be directed to the Director of Composition, Department of English, Box 3520, Greenlaw Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3520. (See also information for teaching fellows on the Writing Program page.)

Applicants to the Program in Comparative Literature who are interested in securing a teaching fellowship in the Department of Romance Languages (French, Spanish, Italian, and/or Portuguese) should send with their application a tape or CD of themselves speaking in the language they wish to teach.

Financial assistance in the form of work-study is available from the University to a limited number of full-time graduate students. Further information about financial aid offerings based on need may be obtained from the Student Aid Office, 301 Vance Hall, CB# 2300, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-2300 (919-962-8396).

Each year a few graduate students are employed as dormitory counselors and administrators. Application forms for these positions can be obtained from the Department of University Housing, CB# 5500, Carr Building, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-5500 (919-962-5406).

For additional funding opportunities, please visit the Graduate School’s webpage and UNC's Grant Source Library. See also the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies.

Please also consult our Frequently Asked Questions, the Guide to Graduate Studies, and the links for enrolled students on the Graduate Study page.