Students must apply and be admitted according to the set deadlines to be considered for assistantships and fellowships. The Center evaluates and ranks entering students on the basis of academic promise. This ranking becomes part of the basis for financial aid decisions. Funding is generally awarded to cover the fall and spring semesters and occasionally on a semester-by-semester basis. Multiple years of funding cannot be guaranteed, but the Center considers it a priority to fund students and see them through the program. Continued funding is based on academic and job performance (in the case of assistantships), the availability of positions, and the Center's budget in a given year.

The Center for African Studies has limited funding available for graduate students, including: Graduate College fellowships, assistantships in the Center or in other academic units. Sometimes students are able to secure funding through other sources on- and off-campus. Students are encouraged to check the Graduate College's website for funding opportunities-whether they are fellowships or assistantships.

In terms of assistantships, the Center occasionally can fund a graduate or research assistant position or help find assistantships for its students in other academic units. Receipt of an assistantship usually reflects a match of the particular skills of the student with the needs of a faculty member in a collaborating unit. Recipients of research assistantships will be informed of the implied commitment of time and effort by students holding assistantships and of the pay and leave policies of the university through a letter of appointment from the Center. Assistantships are for a semester, two semesters, and on rare occasions for 11 months. They are awarded at 25% (10 hrs/week); 33% (13.3 hrs/week) and occasionally at 50% time (20 hours/week). Students often have a heavy course load in their first year of the program, and they are advised not to hold more than a 33% graduate assistantship.

For more information please visit the Grants & Fellowships section of our web site.