Funding at University of California @ ...

[cridamour]

I read somewhere that it is increasingly difficult to get funding for PhD programs at the UCs. Since I'm thinking of applying to PhD programs in Comparative Literature at Berkeley and Irvine and I would not be able to go without a good financial package, I'd like to find out more. I already know it's nearly impossible to find people doing literature on this forum, so I'd like to hear from the others, it doesn't matter which field you're in, if you know anything about funding at any of the state Universities of California (tuition waivers, RAs, TAs, etc.), post it here!!!

[Yevgor]

From my own experience: being an international applicant, this year I got Berkeley graduate fellowship (valid for the duration of the program). It includes tuition waiver, payment of registration fees, stipend of 23 K/year, medical+dental, and no obligation to do TAs/RAs for the first 2 years. Mind you, I am not even a science/engineering type! It's true that the money is more dificult to come by for internationals at UCs, but there is always hope...

[cridamour]

Wow, that's an excellent financial package. Are you doing humanities? I'm considering applying to Berkeley, Irvine, and San Diego, but I'd like to know whether it is really impossible to find funding for humanities programs, otherwise I might not include them in my short list.

[Yevgor]

I think you chances of getting good financial assistance at UCB are resonable. It's a well-balanced university that does not emphasize just a few areas at the expense of other fields, so I suspect they will be eager to attract promising students from various backgrounds (mine is in health economics). You may make more enquiries regarding your field at this website:http://www.livejournal.com/community/applyingtograd - it's very humanities-oriented!