As of March, 2020, and until further notice, the campus has shifted to remote operations (see ehs.ucr.edu/coronavirus). During this period, please contact faculty and staff via email.

Department of Political Science

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Financial Support

Get Help Finding Funding

UCR’s Graduate Division can help you apply for funding. Most fellowships and teaching assistantships include fee remissions and health insurance, as do some graduate student researcher jobs.

Explore fellowships, scholarships, and grants 

Find additional external funding

The UCR Office of Research and Economic Development can also give you expert help in identifying and locating fellowships for dissertation research.

We encourage you to also seek external support from sources such as the National Science Foundation.

If You Are a Ph.D. Student

As a Ph.D. student, you can fund your education with a combination of competitive first-year and dissertation-year fellowships; paid academic employment including teaching assistantships, readerships, and graduate student researcher positions; and need-based aid.

First-year fellowships are usually awarded to Ph.D. students at admission. Once admitted and enrolled, you may also apply for competitive campus fellowships, including dissertation-year fellowships.

You will typically receive financial support for up to six years. The type of assistance and amount will vary but students typically receive a fellowship in their first year without any teaching obligations.  In subsequent years, support comes in the form of teaching assistantships and (in some cases) fellowships.  Fellowships and teaching assistantships cover tuition and most fees and provide student with a stipend/salary.

If you have any questions concerning graduate admission to the Department of Political Science, please contact the Director of Graduate Admissions Paul D'Anieri at paul.danieri@ucr.edu.

If You Are an M.A. Student

Fellowship funding is not available to M.A. students.  M.A. students may be eligible for need-based aid. Teaching assistantships are occasionally awarded to M.A. students. 

Get a Travel Grant

If you want to attend a conference, you may be able to get a departmental and/or Graduate Student Association Conference travel grant. Learn more.

We offer competitive grants for obtaining additional methodological training at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) summer schools.