All successful applicants to the History Department graduate program are offered fellowships or assistantships. Funding packages vary, but usually offer a minimum of five years of funding and sometimes more. Typically, a student will serve a few years as a graduate assistant, then as an independent lecturer and finally as a dissertation fellow (once the student has passed the comprehensive examinations). Students who are highly qualified are typically offered packages with more than one year of fellowship funding.
Most entering students are assigned to teaching assistantships, which require twenty hours of service per week. Duties may include leading discussion sections in survey courses, grading examinations, and holding regular office hours to interact with undergraduate students. Less common are research assistantships, which require the recipient to support faculty research in various fields. Each type of assistantship provides a cash stipend (competitive with that of similar institutions) and a tuition waiver covering two regular semesters and the following summer session.
Every continuing graduate student who successfully passes comprehensive examinations receives a one-semester dissertation fellowship, thanks to the Humanities Initiative at 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 extremely valuable in building a professional record. Normally, ABD students can expect three semesters of funded teaching. We match students with appropriate courses so that they can diversify their teaching credentials and continue to build their professional experience.
The Department of History controls several additional funding sources for graduate students. Doctoral students working on their dissertations may apply for an Edwin Erle 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. In addition, we encourage and support our students in applying for external funding as they develop their dissertation projects. Penn State offers a variety of workshops to offer guidance on developing competitive proposals.
