Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, Tuition Fellowships
A variety of financial support is available to students undertaking graduate study in CLASS. Doctoral programs (and some MFA programs) in the departments offer funding packages that might include Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant stipends, tuition fellowships (doctoral student tuition fellowship, or DSTF), or other forms of support for highly qualified students.  Some departments and schools have some scholarship or TA support at the master’s degree level, as well.  All support packages are awarded on a competitive basis.  Consult the website of the particular program you are interested in to find details of the forms of financial support that may be available for your studies and how to apply for them.

Additional Competitive Support
Presidential, Cullen, and Ehrhardt Fellowships:  The most highly qualified incoming doctoral (and some MFA) students in CLASS may be eligible for additional scholarship support such as the Presidential, Cullen, and Ehrhardt Fellowships.  These two-year awards are available to students who enter graduate programs at the University of Houston; departments must nominate qualified applicants to these fellowships. Selection is based largely on potential for academic excellence in a graduate program.  See your department’s website for further information and selection criteria for nomination.

First-Year Graduate Assistant Awards: This program provides competitive single-year research assistantships to new-to-the-university, first-year doctoral students of faculty members in the sciences mathematics, and engineering who have externally funded research programs.  Departments must nominate highly qualified candidates for this fellowship program to a college selection committee.  Selection is based on academic excellence and likelihood to succeed in a research environment.  In CLASS, only students in Psychology and Health and Human Performance are eligible for this award.  Contact the department for more information.

Dissertation Completion Fellowships: These fellowships are aimed at students in the final year of their doctoral careers, offering them two long semesters of release from teaching in order to concentrate fully on completion of the dissertation in a timely manner.  Departments must nominate highly qualified candidates for this fellowship program to a college selection committee.  Selection is based on excellence of the dissertation project, timely progress through the program, and likelihood of completion of the dissertation within the year.  Click here for more information.  The deadline for application for the 2013-14 Dissertation Completion Fellowship is February 28, 2013.

Selection Criteria for Competitive Financial Support in CLASS

Selection for competitive support is based on review of an applicant’s record as a whole. While the particular criteria for selection will vary from program to program, the general requirements for competitive funding in CLASS include:

For new applicants to a graduate program:

• Quality of academic record at previous undergraduate or graduate institution
• Strength of letters of recommendation
• Applicant’s performance on examinations such as the GRE and TOEFL, or entrance auditions/portfolios in arts and performance areas, as appropriate
• Demonstrated interest in obtaining a graduate degree as evidenced by the statement of purpose
• Overall promise of excellence as evidenced by application materials

For students continuing in a UH graduate program:

• Quality of academic record at the University of Houston
• Maintenance of good standing and continuous enrollment in program
• Overall excellence of academic work and professionalism in program
• Demonstration of likelihood of timely completion of the graduate program