Funding Opportunities

All students admitted to the Ph.D. program are offered funding, which includes a 12-month stipend, a full tuition waiver, and student health insurance*. If students continue to make good progress in the program, funding typically continues for five years. Outstanding applicants may also be eligible for departmental, College of Arts and Science, or University fellowships that supplement the standard stipend. The department nominates outstanding applicants for these awards; there is no separate application process.

Most funded students work as graduate assistants to the department faculty members. To support themselves beyond the usual five years of graduate assistant funding, students may work as research assistants to faculty members in sociology or in other parts of the University, or teach at Vanderbilt or in other local colleges. Students also benefit from small research grants from the Department of Sociology, dissertation enhancement grants and professional development and training grants from the Russell G. Hamilton Graduate Leadership Institute, and other internal funding opportunities within Vanderbilt.  Students are also encouraged to compete for national external graduate fellowships sponsored by the American Association of University Women, American Sociological Association, Ford Foundation, Jacob Javits Foundation, National Academy of Education, the Spencer Foundation,  Society for the Study of Social Problems, and Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

The College of Arts & Science Office of Research is available to assist faculty and students with external proposal submissions. This includes fellowships that are made directly to faculty and students by external sponsors. For all external grant submissions, please submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) form. Once your NOI is submitted, you will receive an email from a member of the College of Arts & Science Office of Research team to assist you with your proposal. Please contact casresearch@vanderbilt.edu if you have any grant-related questions.

* University Tuition Scholarships are service-free awards that pay all or part of tuition costs. The following graduate awards are normally supplemented by a full University Tuition Scholarship, which usually includes student health insurance coverage: University Fellowships, Graduate Teaching Assistantships, Graduate Research Assistantships, Traineeships, and Teacher Training Awards.