DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Departmental Funding

The information stated below is applicable to funding that is derived from Departmental sources. These are:

• University Fellowships
  • First Year University Fellowships (UF)
  • Summer University Fellowships (SUF)
  • Dissertation Year University Fellowships (DYUF)
• Teaching Assistantships (TA) offered by the Department of Economics, and also those funded by other programs, such as MMSS, that use Economics students as TAs
• Research Assistantships (RA)

Some students are funded with external awards.

General PrincipLES

Students’ admission letters specify the nature of the funding in the first and subsequent years. Typically, funding is offered for five years (20 quarters). In general, students are funded with a fellowship in the first year and in their final dissertation year, and are funded as TAs or RAs in the years in between. Pedagogically the Department believes that dissertation year fellowship funding should be taken in the Spring Quarter of the year before the student goes on the job market and in the Fall and Winter Quarters of the job market year.

The Department attempts to support students beyond 20 quarters until the Spring Quarter of the sixth year (23 quarters).  We are able to do so because some students obtain Research Assistantships (RA) with our faculty or obtain external fellowships.

In rare cases, a student's admission letter may contain alternative funding arrangements, which take precedence over those described here.

APPOINTMENTS, HOURS, Working conditions

Information on how TA and RA assignments are made, hours and conditions of work and much more can be found in the Department's

• Teaching Assistant Manual
• Research Assistant Manual

 Foreign Students

Students graduating from institutions where instruction is not in English must demonstrate proficiency in English prior to being funded as a TA.

funding within the first 20 Quarters

Academic Year Funding

First year students

Eligibility: A student's admission letter indicates whether they have been awarded University funding in the first year.

Type of Funding: University Fellowship.

Second year students

Eligibility: Students who remain in the doctoral program are funding eligible irrespective of whether they have achieved candidacy.

Type of Funding: TA or RA.

Third year students

Eligibility:  Students who remain in the doctoral program having achieved candidacy

Type of Funding: TA or RA.

Fourth year students

Type of Funding: TA or RA.  Spring Quarter funding can be changed to a DYUF if the student's dissertation committee chair certifies by February 15 that the student is expected to enter the job market in their fifth year. In addition, the department awards the Robert Eisner Memorial Fellowship to one fourth year student. This award recognizes a student who has distinguished themselves in both teaching and research.

Fifth year students

Eligibility:  Students who remain in the doctoral program having completed their prospectus.

Type of Funding for Students on the Job Market: If the student intends to be on the job market, funding is as a DYUF in Fall and Winter Quarters, followed by a TA or RA in Spring Quarter. If the student withdraws from the job market prior to November 30, the Winter Quarter DYUF is converted to a TA or RA.

Type of Funding for Students Not on the Job Market: TA or RA. Spring Quarter funding can be changed to a DYUF if the student's dissertation committee chair certifies by February 15 that the student is expected to enter the job market in their sixth year. (Note that if the student took advantage of a DYUF in the Spring Quarter of their fourth year, they are not eligible again in their fifth year.)

Summer Quarter Funding

• Intend to be registered as full-time student the following Fall Quarter (unless they are graduating at the end of Summer Quarter);
• Conduct academic pursuits and not take excessive vacationing;
• Do not hold an outside fellowship that provides some amount of summer tuition and stipend; and
• Not work for pay outside of NU (defined as for more than 10 hours a week, or any arrangement that lasts for more than  one month, or has compensation of more than $600 ). This would include any graduating student with a job that starts prior to September 1.

An acceptance form for summer funding certifying the above conditions is submitted between May 1 and May 10 each year (see frequently used forms).

Funding beyond 20 Quarters

Sixth year students

Eligibility: Certification by Committee Chair by July 31 at the end of the fifth year of good progress on their dissertation.

General Principle and Priority: Offer letters specify funding for 20 quarters. The Departments attempts to fund students in good standing for 23 quarters. The availability of DYUF and TA funding depends on the Department's budget set by The Graduate School and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and will be allocated in the following priority order:

1. Students on the job market (if we have to ration within this category, we will prioritize Fall and Winter Quarter funding)
2. Students making good progress but not on the job market or who have withdrawn from the job market.

Type of Funding for Students on the Job Market: Students can use any remaining quarters of their three-quarter DYUF eligibility that they did not use in their fourth or fifth years. (The department suggests that students give priority to taking a DYUF in the Winter Quarter, as they will be traveling and unable to undertake alternative funding such as a TA or RA.) The remaining quarters are funded as a TA or RA. If the student withdraws from the job market prior to November 30, any remaining quarters of DYUF funding are withdrawn. Such students may be funded as a TA or RA in Winter and Spring Quarters, but only if there are still funds available after all the job market students have been funded.

Students making Good Progress but Not on the Job Market: Funding is as a TA or RA. DYUF funding is not available to sixth year students who are not on the job market.

Summer Quarter Funding: Students in year 6 and beyond are not eligible for SUFs but can seek RA funding.

Seventh and higher year students

Eligibility: Certification by Committee Chair by July 31 at the end of the previous year of good progress on their dissertation

Type of Funding: TA and Fellowship funding is not available to students in the seventh and higher years (DYUF funding is not available even if the student is on the job market). Students can seek RA funding but we cannot guarantee obtaining an RA position. 

ADDITIONAL WORK