Ph.D. students in UW-Madison English programs receive five or six years of guaranteed funding typically averaging more than $40,000 a year, through a combination of fellowships, assistantships and scholarships. Students also receive tuition remission, a robust healthcare plan and are eligible for professional development/travel funds and other forms of financial support.
Beyond the resources noted here, you can also find out more about additional funding options through these on-campus resources:
Teaching Assistantships in the English Department
Teaching assistant positions provide a salary, health insurance benefits, and full tuition remission. Segregated fees are not covered. For semesters or years a student is not on fellowship, and depending on what year a student is in a program, appointments range between 40-60%, or an estimated 16-24 hours of work a week during a semester.
Teaching assistants work in various formats, including leading smaller discussion sections for a large lecture, teaching their own composition courses, and working in the Writing Center.
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Composition & Rhetoric
Creative Writing
English Language & Linguistics
Literary Studies
Each semester students are offered a combination of TA and/or PA appointments relative to their experience and progress in their degree program.
Research & Project Assistantships
Beyond teaching assistantships, the Department offers individual assistantships to graduate students to assist with research, training, or other academic programs or projects. Most positions are a one-third workload, though some, particularly those that employ late-stage dissertations, may be higher. PAs and RAs are included in a labor agreement between the State of Wisconsin and the Teaching Assistants Association (TAA). Available positions are filled in accordance with the current contract.
A project or research assistant receives a salary, fringe benefits, and full tuition remission. Entering students typically do not apply for assistantships; they are awarded by the Admissions Committee, and often go to students starting the first stage (M.A. level) of the Ph.D. program. Additional assistantships are also available through various faculty members and research groups, and these are advertised to the graduate student body as they become available.