Funding Graduate School: Assistantships, Fellowships & Scholarships
June 11, 2026 10:00 am EDT
International applicants frequently arrive at the U.S. graduate-school question already braced for a difficult conversation with their family about money. Then they discover something most of them have never been told: at the majority of U.S. PhD programs, the offer of admission is also an offer of full funding. Tuition covered. Health insurance covered. A monthly stipend, typically between $25,000 and $45,000 per year (higher at top-tier private institutions), paid in exchange for teaching or research work that's part of the program.
Over 90% of full-time PhD students at U.S. research universities receive this kind of full funding. For master's programs the picture is more variable — but the structures are knowable, and worth understanding before you build your application list.
Madina Akhmetova advises international graduate applicants and current students at the University of the Pacific. In this session, you'll come away able to:
- Distinguish a Teaching Assistantship (TA), Research Assistantship (RA), and Fellowship — and recognise which one fits your field and stage
- Read a department's funding page critically — including what's promised, what's "typical", and what isn't said at all
- Identify which master's and PhD fields routinely fund international students, and which mostly don't
- Combine institutional funding with external sources — Fulbright, country-specific scholarships, professional associations, field-specific foundations
Over 90% of full-time PhD students at U.S. research universities receive this kind of full funding. For master's programs the picture is more variable — but the structures are knowable, and worth understanding before you build your application list.
Madina Akhmetova advises international graduate applicants and current students at the University of the Pacific. In this session, you'll come away able to:
- Distinguish a Teaching Assistantship (TA), Research Assistantship (RA), and Fellowship — and recognise which one fits your field and stage
- Read a department's funding page critically — including what's promised, what's "typical", and what isn't said at all
- Identify which master's and PhD fields routinely fund international students, and which mostly don't
- Combine institutional funding with external sources — Fulbright, country-specific scholarships, professional associations, field-specific foundations
