Financial Aid

Five Year Funding Packages 

UCSC's 5 year PhD funding packages represent the core form of funding support for most Anthropology graduate students. Students should consult the Graduate Division's official description for current details of this program. In brief, however, support is typically comprised of a combination of fellowships (UCSC and extramural), TAships, and GSRships and covers tuition and fees, as well as a salary, for 5 years for the 3 quarter / 9-month academic year. Salary levels are no less than the quarterly (3-month) rate associated with the applicable current Salary Point 1 of a 50% Teaching Assistant or applicable current Salary Point 1 of a 50% GSR appointment, whichever is less.

Enhanced Support Programs 

As of Academic Year 2024-25, UCSC continues to provide supplemental support for graduate students, including a Housing Supplement and a Relocation Stipend.  

UCSC Fellowships

Regents Fellowships

A limited number of these fellowships are awarded to first-year graduate students in master’s and doctoral programs. 

Chancellor’s Fellowships 

A limited number of these fellowships are awarded to first-year graduate students in doctoral programs. These nine-month awards provide a stipend plus payment of all university fees and nonresident tuition. 

Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowships 

These state-funded, merit-based fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to first-year graduate students who have overcome significant social or educational obstacles to achieve a college education, and whose backgrounds equip them to contribute to intellectual diversity among the graduate student population. These awards provide a stipend plus payment of all university fees except nonresident tuition. 

Contingent on satisfactory academic progress, these awards provide five years of funding through the form of fellowships and academic student employment.

Dissertation-Year Fellowships 

These state-funded, merit-based fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis to doctoral graduate students who have overcome significant social or educational obstacles to achieve a college education, and whose backgrounds equip them to contribute to intellectual diversity among the graduate student population. Fellows receive a stipend plus payment of in-state fees. 

Dissertation Quarter Fellowships 

Dissertation Quarter Fellowships provide students with a stipend comparable to a TA salary plus in-state tuition remission and health insurance fees for one or two quarters.

Financial Aid Office 

Application 

The Financial Aid Office awards need-based financial aid to UCSC students. To apply, file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available in December for the following year. An otherwise eligible graduate student must also be in good standing, be enrolled in five credits or more per quarter, and be making satisfactory academic progress to receive financial aid. Students who have not filed a FAFSA form are ineligible for fellowships. 

Check Disbursements 

Graduate student financial aid checks and fellowship checks are disbursed quarterly at the Office of Accounts Receivable, 203 Hahn Student Services, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. In order to pick up your check, you must have a picture ID and your Enrollment Verification Validation (EVV). Most students elect to sign up for direct deposit to receive payments which can be done through MyUCSC.

Extramural Fellowships 

The advantages of obtaining support from national foundations and federal agencies are numerous, both for the recipient and for UCSC. For the recipient, a major award can mean greater freedom to pursue their own studies, relieved of the time-consuming responsibilities involved in graduate student research and teaching assistantships. The prestige attendant upon winning a national fellowship competition should not be overlooked. Having a national organization’s stamp of approval can make a difference in the competition for attractive research and teaching positions later on, not to mention crucial postdoctoral appointments.

The campus also benefits when one of its students wins an outside fellowship. Each award constitutes recognition both of the institution and the particular program and may smooth the way for future applicants from that school or program. Extramural funding also frees up university resources that can be reallocated to other students.

Members of the UCSC community have access to Pivot-RP, a global grants database managed by ExLibris/ProQuest. Although it is primarily intended for research funding at the faculty and professional research (e.g., postdoctoral, research specialist) level, it is a valuable resource for doctoral graduate students as well.

There is no cost to you as a registered UCSC student to use Pivot-RP. To access the database visit https://pivot.proquest.com/shibboleth/login. Or for more information, contact UCSC’s Pivot liaison in the Office of Sponsored Projects (831-459-5014).

UC Fellowship / Grant Information

Students can find funding opportunities at:

• https://socialsciences.ucsc.edu/faculty-and-staff/grants/graduate-student-resources/fellowships-scholarships/anthropology.html 

• https://app.grad.illinois.edu/fellowship-finder/ 

• https://grad.ucla.edu/funding/ 

Richard Randolph Award 

The Richard Randolph Award is an essay competition based on field research. It is named after Emeritus Professor Richard Randolph in recognition of his invaluable role as a founding member of the UCSC Anthropology Department and his leadership in starting the UCSC Anthropology Graduate Program. The award is open to all anthropology graduate students. Typically, the department awards one student ~$1,000. 

The essay submitted should be of publishable quality and follow the American Anthropologist guidelines. The award will be based on the overall quality, rigor, and originality of the work and on demonstration of effective field practice. Essays will be peer-reviewed by the Richard Randolph Award Committee.

Research Grants 

The Department typically has funding available to support research related expenses (e.g., pre-dissertation field research, language learning, or other activity which substantially contributes to completion of the ethnographic writing requirement or language requirement, or otherwise to prepare for the QE or dissertation research) for continuing Anthropology graduate students. The amount of funding available and the means of distribution may vary annually. Recently, an equal shares model to distribute funds evenly across the student community has been employed. Funding is typically distributed in late spring/early summer to support summer research. (New students often will also receive some summer research support through departmental or external fellowship funds, as described in the student's respective offer letter).