Financial Information
PhD students may have access to additional financial support in the form of graduate instructorships, tuition waivers, and scholarships and fellowships.
Graduate Instructorships
All students are encouraged to apply for a paid Graduate Instructorship (GI-ship). A GI-ship pays an annual salary in addition to a tuition waiver and benefits, in exchange for teaching a 2/2 load (two courses each semester) and performing other responsibilities. USU provides excellent teacher training to PhD students, and our PhD students usually get the opportunity to teach a variety of courses, including composition as well as technical communication courses.
Guarantee of continued support is contingent upon three factors: 1) acceptable teaching performance; 2) acceptable academic performance and progress towards the degree; and 3) sufficient funding from the university allowing the department to continue hiring GIs. Although we anticipate that students will complete the degree in four years, support may be available for a fifth year.
Graduate Instructorship duties begin in August with a week-long, in-service training workshop prior to the semester, conducted by the Director of Writing. GIs are also expected to attend departmental meetings as they are scheduled before classes begin and to enroll in ENGL 6820: Practicum in Teaching English during fall semester if they have not done so already.
Please note the following residency requirements for the PhD program: PhD students will establish residency in their first year. They must remain in residence at least until achieving doctoral candidacy (ABD) and be engaged as active members of the USU academic community. Students must be Utah residents to maintain their Graduate Instructorship after the first year. Renewal of the GI-ship is contingent upon satisfactory performance in teaching, coursework, tutoring, and all other GI responsibilities. If a PhD student does not meet these requirements, the department may reevaluate and decide between a plan of remediation or dismissal from teaching duties. To be eligible for a GI-ship, PhD students must be considered to be full time by the Graduate School, a designation that includes teaching two courses per semester and being enrolled in at least 6 credit hours per semester as a student.
Tuition Waivers
Doctoral students who work as Graduate Instructors receive waivers of resident (in-state) tuition, leaving them to pay only the fees associated with their classes. Students who are not employed by the English Department or by another department as Graduate Instructors receive no waivers and must pay full tuition and fees.
US citizens who enter the doctoral program as residents of states other than Utah will also have their nonresident (out-of-state) tuition waived if they work as Graduate Instructors, but only for the first year. By the end of that year they will need to have established Utah residency to avoid being charged nonresident tuition in subsequent years.
International students, who cannot legally establish Utah residency, will continue to receive waivers of nonresident tuition as long as they are employed as Graduate Instructors.
Tuition waivers will cover only those classes approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee for inclusion on the student’s Program of Study form. Students must check with their Supervisory Committee before registering for classes each semester. The Supervisory Committee may approve certain upper-division undergraduate classes, but lower-division undergraduate classes and recreational classes will not be covered by tuition waivers.
Classes taken through Distance Education may have higher tuition costs than on-campus classes. Tuition waivers are not increased to cover this difference in cost, which must be paid by the student.
Scholarships and Fellowships
There are limited amounts of scholarships available for graduate students in the English Department. You should apply for all scholarships (department and university) through scholarship universe. Deadlines are usually early February, and the scholarship application is a lengthy process, so it’s recommended to begin the process early.
Additionally, there are funding and scholarship opportunities available specifically for international graduate students. Information can be found via the Office of Global Engagement.
More information can be found on the Student Financial Support page.