Graduate Funding

The majority of departmental funding for graduate students in sociology comes in the form of Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) and Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) positions. GTA and GRA positions include a full tuition waiver and health insurance with KU paying 75% of the premium. The GTA salary for the 2024-25 academic year is $19,594. GRA salaries may vary slightly.

GTAs are allotted to graduate students annually.

GRA positions are usually recruited and awarded by the individual faculty member conducting the research.

Current graduate students are eligible annually for departmental scholarship funds to support research and travel expenses. Additional awards are available for students who demonstrate excellence in teaching, scholarship, and departmental service.

The Office of Graduate Studies distributes University Graduate Fellowships (UGFs) to doctoral programs on an annual basis. Each department may be awarded up to one first-year fellowship for a first-year doctoral student, and one first-year fellowship for a first-year underrepresented domestic doctoral student. The stipend for each fellowship is $26,000. UGFs are distributed as a 9-month GRA positions.

Departments may nominate one exceptional applicant each year for a CDF. Fellows are expected to complete all doctoral degree requirements within five years. The fellowship provides a yearly stipend of $33,365 stipend for four years. Awards are distributed as 12-month GRA positions.

The Allen S. Wilber Scholarship provides funding of up to $10,000 for the study of social sciences or modern languages and literatures at the graduate level. Recipients must complete their undergraduate degree at KU and intend to continue on to graduate study in one of the humanities, social sciences, or international and interdisciplinary studies departments, programs or centers.  Eligible academic units may nominate one outstanding KU student who has expressed an interest in or has already applied to their graduate program.