Funding and Packages
In 2008-2009, tuition and general fees for full-time Arts & Sciences graduate students (those who register for nine semester hours of credit or more per semester) are $5,130 per semester for residents of Virginia, and $11,895 per semester for non-residents.
Financial aid is available to both master's and doctoral students in the form of stipends, internships, assistantships, apprenticeships, grants and student loans. (Foreign students are eligible for all forms of funding except student loans.) In addition to the apprenticeships and internships described elsewhere, the Department also helps to place students in paid internships at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the U.S. Parks Service at Jamestown Island.
Doctoral Program
All doctoral students who apply for funding are awarded five or six-year stipend packages of $18,000 plus full tuition and fees, depending on whether they enter with an MA in hand. Of that $18,000, $4,000 is awarded as a summer fellowship and is contingent upon a commitment to devote at least ten weeks of the summer to degree-related activities, such as completing the Master's thesis, studying for comprehensive exams, or working on the dissertation. While on stipend, students usually serve as apprentices (see the apprenticeship program) in their MA year, then as teaching assistants for three semesters, and then have a semester free of duties while they study for their comprehensive exams. In their fourth year on stipend, students normally teach their own class (usually the U.S. survey), and then they have a year to devote entirely to their dissertation research before working for one final year, usually as consultants in the History Writing Resources Center, as a teaching assistant for Global History, or as an instructor of an undergraduate course. This final year of funding is generously supported by the George Washington Fellowship of the General Society for Colonial Wars, the Glucksman Endowment, the Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Ruffin Tyler Endowment Fund, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
MA Programs
Applicants to the full-time Master's Programs may also apply for funding, though it is unlikely that there will be sufficient funds for all students admitted. MA stipends are $4,000. Out of state students who receive as much as $4,000 in funding are also allowed to pay tuition at the in-state rate. Awards are assigned on a merit basis. Students who receive a stipend are assigned as apprentices (see apprenticeship program) or, occasionally, as graduate or research assistants. In past years, students have received generous support from the First Families of Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Ruffin Tyler Endowment Fund, the National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, the Jamestown Fellowship, the Donald B. Irwin Memorial Scholarship, Earl Gregg Swem Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Jack E. Morpungo Fellowship.
Graduate Fellowship in African American History
The Graduate Fellowship in African American History is awarded to a student entering the M.A./Ph.D. program at the Lyon G. Tyler Department of History at the College of William and Mary whose primary interest is in African American history. Providing that he or she remains in good standing in the graduate program and fulfills the duties performed by all students on stipend, the fellow will receive a stipend of $18,000 a year plus tuition for six years (a recipient entering the doctoral program with an M.A. in hand would receive the fellowship for five years). To apply, please provide a cover letter indicating interest in the fellowship and a writing sample in African American history when submitting your regular application materials to the Graduate Program in History. Application materials are available online at the web site below, and are due Dec. 5.
To apply for financial support from the department, simply check the appropriate box on the application for admission form. The College of William and Mary and the Commonwealth of Virginia also offers three types of financial assistance to outstanding minority applicants pursuing graduate degrees in Arts & Sciences in Virginia. To inquire about federally-funded student loans, contact the Office of Financial Aid at 757-221-2420.
