Financial Support

Fellowships and Assistantships include health insurance coverage and a tuition award. The grant for health insurance covers the premium for the Bryn Mawr College student health plan. Tuition awards cover the tuition charges for up to six units of coursework (three each semester), which is a full-time course load. Please note, TAs may take only two units of coursework each semester.

Graduate students in recent years have also won outside support for their studies, including Newport Research Awards, Ford Foundation Minority Awards, grants and fellowships from SPIE, Fulbright pre-doctoral fellowships, American Association of University Women pre-doctoral fellowship, and fellowships from Zonta International. Others have arranged part-time or full-time study while working in industrial positions where the employer provided tuition support or partial stipend support. Advanced graduate students have also been supported through faculty research grants from the NSF.

Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art

Dean's Fellowships carry stipends up to $23,000 as well as a summer stipend. These fellowships are designated for students from underrepresented populations and are intended to enhance the diversity of our graduate student body.  They may also be granted to students in their final year of dissertation writing.

Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) Fellowships carry stipends of up to $27,250 (which includes $23,000 for the academic year and a summer stipend of $4,250) and may be guaranteed for multiple years.

Teaching and Graduate Assistantships are typically awarded to advanced students and carry stipends of $23,000 for the academic year plus a summer stipend. Two units per semester is the maximum course load permitted to a TA or GA.  Assistantships provide stipends in exchange for a maximum of 17.5 hours of work per week in departmentally assigned teaching (TA) duties or non-teaching (GA) duties.

Thanks to a generous private donation and an NEH Challenge Grant, we have also several distinguished fellowships for exceptionally qualified applicants to departments in the Graduate Group in Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art:

Areté Fellowships carry stipends of $29,750 (which includes $25,000 for the academic year and a summer stipend of $4,750). Areté, Greek for "excellence," denotes superior achievement in any one of the fields of the Graduate Group.

The Phyllis Bober Multidisciplinary Fellowship and the Mechteld J. Mellink Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship carry stipends of $28,500 (which includes $24,000 for the academic year and a summer stipend of $4,500). These are funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and are for applicants qualified to do graduate work in more than one discipline. Departments will nominate for this award those applicants whose records show that they have the depth and breadth of training, including language competence, and the commitment to follow an interdisciplinary program of study.

Curatorial Internships carry stipends of $28,500 (which includes $24,000 for the academic year and a summer stipend of $4,500). These are open to students who have completed at least one year of course work and offer hands-on curatorial experience in a variety of museums and in Bryn Mawr’s own Special Collections. The internships are named for two of Bryn Mawr’s most distinguished alumnae, Mary Patterson McPherson, Ph.D. ’69, former president of Bryn Mawr, and Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, Ph.D. ’58, Rhys Carpenter Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Emeritus. For more information and the application, please see Curatorial Internships at Financial Support: Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art.

There are also a number of named grants and fellowships. For a complete list, visit Financial Support: Archaeology, Classics, and History of Art.

Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics

Teaching Assistantships have annual packages up to $29,500, depending on program. They carry summer stipends for the summer following the academic year. Teaching Assistantships provide stipends equivalent to fellowships, in exchange for a maximum of 17.5 hours of work per week in departmentally assigned teaching duties. Teaching Assistantships are renewable annually, on the basis of departmental recommendation.

Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) Fellowships carry stipends up to $23,000 plus an additional summer stipend, and they may be guaranteed for multiple years.

Dean's Fellowships carry stipends up to $23,000 plus an additional summer stipend. These fellowships are designated for students from underrepresented populations and are intended to enhance the diversity of our graduate student body.  They may also be granted to students in their final year of dissertation writing.

Research Fellowships are available to advanced students and carry stipends of $23,000 plus an additional summer stipend as well as a tuition award ranging from Continuing Enrollment up to three units per semester.  One research fellowship is available in each of the three programs per year.

Physics Students typically receive additional departmental funding. More information can be obtained from the current Director of Graduate Studies in Physics.

Please visit Financial Support: Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics for a complete list of grants and fellowships.

How to Apply

To apply for any form of financial support, all prospective graduate students need to do is answer yes to the question, "Do you wish to be considered for financial support?" in the application form.