Fellowships or assistantships are offered to all successful applicants for admission to graduate study in history. Funding packages vary, but most offer at least four full years of funding, and many offer more. Typically a student will serve few years as graduate assistantships, followed by independent lectureships and dissertation fellowships once a student passes the comprehensive examinations. Some highly qualified entering students are offered packages with more than one year of fellowship funding.
Typically an entering student would be assigned to a teaching assistantship. These half-time assistantships require twenty hours of service per week. Duties may include leading discussion sections in survey courses, grading examinations, holding office hours, and the like. A few research assistantships are usually available. These support faculty research in various fields. Occasionally an assistantship position will entail assisting with workshops or conferences, or working on archival collections in the PSU Libraries. Regardless of the type, assistantships provide cash stipends competitive with those of similar institutions, and a tuition waiver covering the two regular semesters and the following summer session. Application forms for graduate assistantships may be secured through the Department of History, and must be received by the Department of History by January 15. Awards are announced no later than April 1. Early offers may be made to outstanding applicants.
Every continuing graduate student who successfully passes comprehensive examinations receives a one-semester dissertation fellowship, thanks to a new Humanities Initiative undertaken by Penn State. This support is invaluable in getting students launched on a dissertation project. “ABD” students (All But Dissertation, that is those who have passed comprehensive exams) also have the opportunity to teach small sections of beginning-level classes. This supervised teaching experience is valuable in building a professional record. Normally, ABD students can expect three semesters of funded teaching. We try to match students with appropriate courses so they can diversify their teaching credentials.
The Department of History controls several other sources of funding for graduate students. Doctoral students working on their dissertations may apply for an Edwin Earle Sparks Fellowship in the Humanities, and the Hill Fellowships for Study in History. Periodically, given the availability of funds and a suitable recipient, the department gives the James Hamilton Hartzell and Lucretia Irvine Boyd Hartzell History Award to a graduate student in the field of Pennsylvania history. The Mark and Lucy MacMillan Stitzer Endowment provides dissertation travel support for selected students. Excellence in teaching is recognized by The E-tu Zen Sun Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Assistant. Several other awards are available for student work in specific fields.
Students in History are eligible to apply for fellowships and awards from other entities at Penn State, such as the College of the Liberal Arts, the Graduate School, and the Institute for Arts and Humanities. These fellowships offer support for research, writing, and travel to collections. History students have had a good record of securing this funding.
We encourage our students to apply for external funding as they develop their dissertation projects. Grantwriting workshops at the departmental, college, and university levels offer guidance on developing competitive proposals.