Ph.D. Financial Aid & Housing

The standard financial-aid package generally offered to full-time Ph.D. students who do not receive awards from outside sources consists of a stipend and a tuition exemption for up to three years. Financial aid may be cancelled at any time for failure to maintain a high standard of academic excellence or to comply with the terms of the award.

Teaching assistantships

Full-time students who receive the "full funding" package of tuition plus a three-year stipend are not assigned assistantships during their first year at Columbia, but during each semester of their second and third years they will receive an assignment generally requiring teaching or research. Since the experience of teaching is viewed as an integral part of graduate student training for the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees, students will be expected whenever possible to serve for at least one or two semesters in a standard teaching assistantship based in a classroom. Students may be assigned to Political Science or another undergraduate department, in which case the costs of the stipend are shared between Journalism and the other department.

Students are welcome to express their interest in a particular position but they do not arrange their own assistantships; all assignments are made by the director or the chair in consultation with the course professor and are based on the student's preparation and background. Every effort will be made to give each student a variety of duties and experiences, but available assignments vary from term to term, as do the expectations and needs of the School. A students may suggest a TA or RA assignment with a professor in another division of the university, though such arrangements must have the approval of the director; the assumption is that such work will be relevant to the student's studies, will entail bona fide teaching or research, and will require an average commitment of 10-20 hours a week. The other division must be willing to share the cost of the student's stipend on acceptable terms.

Students who plan to take a semester at another campus should discuss with the director how to fulfill their assignments. International students should be aware that they must hold “F-1” student visas to accept their stipends and assistantships; holders of other types of visas are urged to consult with the International Students and Scholars Office to clarify their status.

A third-year student finished with coursework who leaves campus and is not available to carry out the terms of an assistantship will receive a substantially reduced stipend.

Medical and maintenance fees
The school covers basic medical insurance and health-service fees while the student is completing coursework and for two years thereafter. The school also covers maintenance fees for two years after the completion of coursework, after which all funding normally ceases. We will however continue to support on the standard terms one new student each year with the M.Phil. who accepts a preceptorship in Contemporary Civilization in Columbia College. Students may not apply for these appointments without first consulting with and securing permission from the director, and preference will always be given to people applying during their third year of study to take the position in their fourth year. If accepted they will receive the school's support for up to two years providing that their academic progress is satisfactory.

Paid work
Students who are receiving stipends may not take paid work that amounts to more than 10 hours a week during the school year (or 20 on petition to the director). A FAFSA form must be submitted to the financial aid office each year and no financial aid will be released until the form has been turned in.

Outside awards

Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships and fellowships from outside sources. As an incentive, they will be permitted to retain a combination of external and school funds up to a specified cap that is higher than the standard stipend. This policy, based on GSAS's standard practice and known as the topping-off policy, applies when the source of the funding comes from outside the Journalism School; the funding was obtained on the basis of a competitive application; and the student would have otherwise received a year of his or her multi-year fellowship according to school policies.

The table below shows the combination of outside awards and school stipends retained under the outside award policy. In this table, stipend stands for the prevailing school stipend. The school award is the portion of the stipend kept by the student sufficient to bring the total amount to the level indicated. (The right column in this table shows totals based on the standard $19,000 stipend for 2006-07.)

Housing

To be approved for off-campus university (UAH) housing and to retain eligibility and remain in residence, Ph.D. students must be registered full time. Eligibility for housing is granted for five years from the date of first registration (or four for students with advanced standing). Ph.D. students may apply for one year's additional eligibility during the annual extension process in February; the granting of an extension is subject to housing availability and a student's satisfactory progress in the degree program as attested by his or her sponsor on the annual Report on Progress in Candidacy.