Funding
Contact Us
Questions about how we fund graduate students can be sent to [email protected].
The Department of American Indian Studies guarantees five years of financial support for students who are admitted to the AIIS PhD program. This support is contingent upon satisfactory performance and degree progress and may include teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and/or competitive awards such as fellowships and grants.
At the University of Minnesota, graduate students are considered fully funded on a 50% appointment (or two 25% appointments) during the academic year. 50% assistantships include a stipend, full-time tuition (6-14 credits) for fall and spring semesters, and year-round subsidized health insurance.
A 50% teaching or research appointment translates to an average of 20 hours of effort per week, which ensures all students have sufficient time for their coursework and research. Additionally, the majority of teaching assistantships and some other forms of support typically require students to be local and available to complete in-person work on campus.
Students are encouraged to, and supported in, pursuing relevant opportunities including:
The University of Minnesota offers competitive fellowships to recruit outstanding new students and support current students. These fellowships typically provide a 9-month stipend, full-time tuition for fall and spring semesters, and 12 months of subsidized health insurance.
Each year, the department nominates two newly admitted students for the Diversity of Views and Experiences (DOVE) Fellowship, who compete in a University-wide competition. The diversity statement required for the application is weighted heavily in the department’s two-stage review process for identifying DOVE nominees.
Opportunities for mid- and late-career doctoral students include the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) and Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF).
Graduate students play a vital role in CLA’s research, teaching, and service missions. Doctoral students can pursue summer opportunities from CLA including:
We encourage our current and incoming PhD students to apply to competitive fellowships that support graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds and/or fund social justice-oriented research, including:
- Cobell Graduate Scholarship Program - Elouise Cobell Dissertation Writing Fellowship and Cobell Graduate Summer Research Fellowship
- Ford Global Fellowship Program, Ford Foundation
- Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS) fellowships and awards
- Health Policy Research Scholars, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) Scholarship
The UMN Circle of Indigenous Nations (COIN) maintains a list of American Indian Scholarships that includes additional opportunities that may be relevant to AIIS PhD students.
Funding to support research, travel for academic conferences, and/or career support can be pursued through the Council of Graduate Students (COGS) grants program. Additional sources of funding for research and travel support for AIIS PhD students are currently being explored.
Pay Rate for Graduate Assistantships
The minimum pay rate for graduate assistantships in the College of Liberal Arts for the 2025-26 academic year is $28.94/hour.