Funding for Graduate Students

Students in their first five years of study at the University of Washington are guaranteed financial support via Academic Service Employment (TA, RA, SA) that includes a stipend, tuition, and benefits at the rates set by the Graduate School. In order to remain eligible for this funding, students must comply with the Washington State sexual misconduct disclosure requirement (see below), and be meeting expected standards of progress as set by departmental policy and evaluated by their faculty committee on an annual basis. Students are also eligible to apply annually for competitive departmental and university fellowships, which provide comparable levels of support while exempting students from service requirements. Students in year six and beyond remain eligible to apply for ASE appointments and fellowships as in past years, but their funding is not guaranteed. All students are strongly encouraged to apply for external fellowships, and students may bank up to one year of guaranteed departmental funding to their sixth year if they secure outside funding.

Sexual Misconduct Disclosure Requirement

Washington state law and University of Washington policy prohibits the UW from hiring candidates for graduate student employment who do not complete and sign a sexual misconduct declaration prior to their start of employment.  For further information about this requirement, see the UW Human Resources website.

Prospective Students

All applicants for admission are considered for the Department aid for which they are eligible. A separate application for Departmental funding is not required, although we encourage applicants to simultaneously apply for external fellowships (e.g., Foreign Language and Area Studies) for which they may be eligible.

Current Students

Each Winter, current graduate students in good standing submit the Department's Consolidated Funding Application in order to be considered for departmental funding (and University funding for which the Department nominates students) the following academic year. Students within their five-year funding packages must also submit the Funding Application.

Students are strongly encouraged to continue to apply for outside funding, and a track record of applying for and/or securing external funding will strengthen a student's case for departmental awards. For all students in all divisions, a consistent effort to apply for outside funding (FLAS, Simpson Center, et al.) will be an important factor in evaluating student progress through the program, even if that funding is not awarded.

Out-of-state graduate students are encouraged to apply for Washington residency for tuition purposes if they are eligible (international students are not eligible to apply for state residency for tuition purposes).  See the UW Residence Classification Office's website for the procedures and documentation needed to apply for residency. Qualifying for Washington residency can be complicated:  questions regarding residency should be directed to the Residence Classification Office.

Final Quarter Registration in the PhD program: In order to defend, students must be enrolled for at least two credits. For resident students, the Department will pay for two credits of in-state tuition in the quarter for which the defense is scheduled. Students who have not declared Washington residency must pay the difference between the cost of the 2 credits of resident tuition (paid for by the Department) and the non-resident tuition cost. For international students, the Department will pay international tuition. This is a one-time benefit and may not be repeated if the defense occurs later than the quarter for which funding was requested. In order to qualify for the departmental tuition payment, the student must officially set up his or her defense with the History Graduate Office and the Graduate School by the end of the quarter preceding the defense quarter. The History Department will not pay the Graduate Registration Waiver Fee or for a student's credits in the quarter(s) after the defense.

The department encourages students to apply for funding from the graduate school, GPSS, and any other outside sources.

Emergency Aid for History students via the Hobart Meade Fund

Information on Graduate School funding

The list of Graduate School Fellowships 

Graduate students should also consider utilizing the resources provided by Graduate Funding Information Services (GFIS), located in the Allen Library Consultation Studio.

Students are also encouraged to look for funding from the Graduate Student and Professional Senate (GPSS)


For continuing students, please submit your 2023-2024 Graduate Review and Funding Materials to this Google form. Please note that if you have a personal Google account, you may need to log in to Google through a clean browser. After entering your UW email address, please choose UW organizational G-suite and this should take you to the google form above. The submission deadline is February 10, 2023.

The Graduate Studies Committee evaluates the applications for fellowship funding on: academic merit and course performance; progress toward the degree in a timely manner; performance of duties in any previous departmental position (TA, RA, reader, tutor, etc.); faculty support and endorsement; prior types of funding. Students are ranked. New Ph.C.'s are given priority for departmental dissertation fellowships. The committee makes every effort to balance out types of funding across different kinds of appointments (TA, RA, fellowship) over the course of a graduate student's career.


Funding Forms

Materials for Annual Review and Funding Applications:

2023 - 24 Annual Review and Funding Application Information

2023-24 Annual Review and Funding Timeline

2023 Faculty Instructions for Annual Review

History's Departmental Funding Banking Form:

Share