With rare exceptions the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies offers full funding during Autumn and Spring semesters for all admitted students, including international students. Most students are funded via Graduate Associate positions, while other funded via fellowships. Graduate Associates are expected to perform 20 hours of labor for the department per week in exchange for tuition and fee waivers, a health insurance subsidy, and a nine-month stipend. Renewal of all types of funding is based on satisfactory performance of responsibilities. Students are not permitted to pay their own way unless they have exhausted departmental funding.
There’s no additional application needed to secure funding as all admitted WGSS graduate students receive funding.
Departmental Funding - Graduate Teaching Associates
Most Graduate Associates will serve as Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs). GTAs are expected to fulfill a teaching position for 20 hours a week. Teaching assignments, which can range from assisting faculty in a larger class to teaching one class independently per semester, are determined by departmental need.
Teaching assignments are performed in exchange for tuition and fee waivers (~$12,000/year for residents of Ohio and ~$32,000/year for non-residents), a health insurance subsidy ($~2,300/year), and a nine month stipend (currently at $2,364/month equaling $21,280/year).
Fellowship Funding
A fellowship is a financial award made by Ohio State to support students during a portion of their graduate program. Incoming fellowships are awarded on the basis of academic merit through university-wide competitions without respect to financial need. Graduate students cannot apply directly for these fellowships. The department takes fellowship consideration into account during the admissions process and will automatically nominate eligible students for fellowships.
PhD students who do not receive an incoming fellowship are eligible to apply for the Presidential Fellowship. This dissertation year fellowship is the most prestigious fellowship awarded by the University. WGSS has a high rate of success when nominating students for this fellowship.
External Funding
Some students enter the program with secure external funding, such as a Fulbright Fellowship. Students who have such funding should contact Program Coordinator Jackson Stotlar to make a note on their application. External funding replaces departmental funding.
Standard MA Funding
The standard MA funding package is a GTA position for four semesters (Autumn and Spring semesters for two consecutive academic years). GTAs are expected to work for 20 hours a week in exchange for tuition and fee waivers (~$12,000/year for residents of Ohio and ~$32,000/year for non-residents), a health insurance subsidy ($~2,300/year), and a nine month stipend (currently at $2,364/month equaling $21,280/year).
Standard PhD Funding
The standard PhD funding package is a GTA position for 10 semesters (Autumn and Spring semesters for five consecutive academic years). The standard direct-to-PhD funding package is a GTA position for 12 semesters (Autumn and Spring semesters for six consecutive academic years). GTAs are expected to work for 20 hours a week in exchange for tuition and fee waivers (~$12,000/year for residents of Ohio and ~$32,000/year for non-residents), a health insurance subsidy ($~2,300/year), and a nine month stipend (currently at $2,364/month equaling $21,280/year).
At present, we cannot guarantee summer funding for every student. Our base funding package is a nine-month stipend that covers September through April, along with half of May and half of August. Summer funding opportunities are limited to a handful of GTA positions, with priority granted to advanced PhD candidates.
Fellowship students receive twelve-month funding packages and so do receive summer funding for the year(s) they are on fellowship.
Funding provided by WGSS is allotted for the average time to degree within WGSS. For example, MA funding provided by WGSS is for two years as the average time to degree is two academic years. Students enrolled in dual degree programs that take beyond this average time to degree will still only receive WGSS funding for the average WGSS time to degree. Additional funding considerations for dual and combined programs are determined on an individual basis due to differentiating tuition and fee costs across The Ohio State University.