Applicants to the graduate program in Classics may ask to be considered for the forms of financial assistance described below. Stipends vary from year to year (for current information please consult the Department of Classics). Support packages include tuition waivers and health insurance. Multiple-year support packages are enhanced in the first year, for exceptional applicants, by a one-time supplementary stipend of $5,000.
To be eligible for initial appointment to either a Teaching or Research Assistanship, a student must a) at the time of beginning the appointment have completed the baccalaureate degree or its equivalent and be intending to enroll in the graduate program and b) meet the minimum standards for admission to the Graduate School and the Department of Classics at the University of Washington: a grade-point average of 3.0 (4.0 = A) during the junior and senior years and completion of an undergraduate major or equivalent coursework in Classics, Greek or Latin.
To be considered for reappointment, students are expected to make normal progress toward completion of their degrees (see Progress in Graduate Study) and carry out instructional responsibilities successfully.
Jim Greenfield Graduate Fellowship. The Jim Greenfield Graduate Fellowship is funded from a generous bequest to the Department by the late Meg Greenfield and is named in honor of her brother. The Fellowship carries a stipend commensurate with that awarded a Teaching or Research Assistantship for one academic year. The holder of the Fellowship is eligible to apply for a regular academic year Teaching Assistantship to commence the fall of the second year, renewable, in a regular support package, up to a total of five years’ support.
Funding for applicants for a terminal M.A. degree. For those wishing to pursue only an M.A. degree in our program (which under normal circumstances and depending on preparation may be completed in a year), some limited funding is available. Currently, this consists of a stipend of $6000 for the year (three quarters), which carries with it a waiver of the difference between resident and non-resident graduate tuition, and health insurance. Full-time registration is expected for those receiving such funding.
Research Assistantships. Typically one or more Research Assistantships are also available. During the year in which the Assistantship is held, the RA has no teaching duties and is generally assigned to assist one or more faculty members with their research. Those who hold research assistantships are eligible to apply for a regular academic year Teaching Assistantship to commence the fall of the second year, renewable, in a regular support package, up to a total of five years’ support.
Teaching Assistantships. Teaching Assistants usually teach sections of an elementary course under the supervision of a member of the departmental faculty. The teaching load (normally 4 to 5 classroom hours a week) permits the student to carry two courses (10 hours) per quarter. Appointments are normally for one academic year and are renewable, in a regular support package, up to a total of five academic years’ support. Teaching Assistants may expect to proceed through several ranks, each of which brings an increase in salary. Such promotions normally occur upon completion of the M.A. and upon advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D.
Summer Support. Graduate students may also apply for a two-month Summer Quarter teaching appointment, starting the summer after their first year of support. Students holding such an appointment are not required to carry a full 10-credit load for that quarter. They may register for the summer graduate seminar alone; other courses are optional.
Dissertation Year Support. Teaching support beyond the fifth year is not part of the regular package, but is sometimes available to students in good standing. There are also various fellowships, both within the Department and beyond, for which graduate students are elegible to compete at the dissertation stage. The Classics Department offers its own Jim Greenfield Dissertation Fellowships. Our students have also been highly successful in competing for university fellowships. These include Graduate School Dissertation Fellowships, and fellowships at the Simpson Center for the Humanities, which include participation in the Simpson Center’s Society of Scholars.
Other Types of Financial Aid. Well-qualified applicants to our graduate program may be nominated following admission for one of several forms of fellowship support available from the UW Graduate School's Graduate Opportunities and Minority Achievement Program.
Information about other types of financial assistance, such as loan funds, may be found at http://www.washington.edu/students. You may also write to: University of Washington, Office of Student Financial Aid, 105 Schmitz Hall, Box 355880, Seattle, WA 98195-5880.
Departmental Scholarships
The Jim Greenfield Scholarship Fund
Owing to the generosity of the late Meg Greenfield, the Department of Classics enjoys a substantial endowment fund for the support of meritorious students. Graduate Students are eligible to compete for the following awards:
The Jim Greenfield Graduate Fellowship. Offers a year on full fellowship to outstanding applicants.
Graduate Supplementary Awards. In collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences, we are able to offer a $5,000 first-year supplement to incoming students of exceptional promise.
Graduate Renewal Awards. The Department offers each student on a multi-year support package an annual supplement, currently of $1,500, in the second year and beyond, in recognition of continued satisfactory progress through the program.
The Jim Greenfield Dissertation Fellowship. Rewards Ph.D. candidates for research promise with financial support equivalent to the highest level of Teaching Assistantship, thus freeing up time for concentrated writing near the end of their graduate careers.
Rome Study Support. Reduces the program fee for each UW applicant selected to attend our annual Spring Seminar in Rome.
Jim Greenfield Travel Bursaries. For travel to the Rome Program (or extension of time abroad afterwards), for transport to other programs or archaeological excavations, for independent expeditions to areas of Classical interest, for travel to significant conferences at which a student is presenting a paper, and for other kinds of travel in pursuit of academic excellence for which the applicant can make a cogent case.
Academic Initiative Awards. For student activities in pursuit of excellence in the Classics that are not covered by other award categories.
Additional Scholarships
Nesholm Family Endowment Fellowship: A generous grant from the Nesholm family who endowed a fund, shared jointly between Classics and the Division of French and Italian Studies, which provides funds to graduate students for a variety of purposes.
Phillip H. & Estelle Delacy Endowed Fellowship Fund: established through a generous bequest by Phillip H. and Estelle DeLacy in support of graduate students in Greek or Latin. Phillip and Estelle DeLacy were both distinguished classicists, and both alumni of the Department. Estelle earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees here, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1931. She went on to earn her doctorate at the University of Chicago, and thereafter was a Professor of Philosophy at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Philip also received his B.A. (1932) and M.A. (1933) in classics at the UW, where he was the President’s Medalist, before studying for his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He taught at Princeton, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Washington University, Northwestern, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. He was president of the American Philological Association in 1966–67, and held a number of important positions in professional organizations, including the American Council of Learned Societies. Both Estelle and Phillip remained good and steadfast friends of the Department throughout their careers.
Classics Student Travel Fund: provides support of graduate (and undergraduate) student travel to conferences, programs abroad, etc.