Doctoral Degree in Politics and International Affairs

Financial Assistance

Most of our successful applicants qualify for funding offered by the department or the Office of Graduate Studies. Funded doctoral students will receive a graduate assistantship that includes:

  • a stipend for the academic year (9 months)
  • a tuition waiver (not including school fees)
  • the option of health insurance mostly paid by the department (the student only pays a small amount towards insurance).

All applicants for the doctoral degree are considered for a graduate assistantship - they do not need to complete a separate form.

The graduate assistantship is guaranteed for four years but is based on maintaining satisfactory annual academic progress. It requires each student to work 20 hours per week, in which case the student would be first assisting professors of the department with their teaching and class preparations and later, after having passed the doctoral comprehensive exams and completed teacher training seminars, teach a class at the University of South Florida. 

Please visit the graduate assistantships page for further information. The department also provides funding for conference travel or the presentation of research at conferences upon approval.

*Further Information on the assistantship can be found in the graduate catalog and more information can be found on the Graduate Assistantships Resource Center website.

We also strive to fund our students in the fifth year, though this funding is not guaranteed. Depending on additional funds that become available, students may have the opportunity to extend their graduate assistantship to one, possibly two academic semesters. Students in the fifth year are also encouraged to seek external funding. For more information on this, please consult our Graduate Resources Page.

Outstanding candidates may also be nominated by the school’s director and/or graduate committee for prestigious and highly competitive university fellowships, including the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship, the Dorothy Auzenne Fellowship, and the University Graduate Fellowship. There is also the opportunity for minority students to be awarded a McKnight Fellowship, which provides annual tuition up to $5,000 for each of three academic years, plus an annual stipend of $12,000. The program also offers travel grants and other forms of financial support. For additional information on this fellowship opportunity, please visit the McKnight Fellowship's informational page.