Financial support for graduate students applies to both domestic and foreign students admitted to our doctoral programs (funding for transfer students may vary). Doctoral students in the Humanities and Social Sciences are guaranteed six years of support. This support can come from a variety of Brown University resources--including Graduate School funds, departmental funds, and faculty research funds--and/or external funds, as applicable.

We believe that our longer commitment, combined with the continual increase in our base stipend (nearly 50% since 2001), allows students the time and energy they need to apply to their research and scholarship. As always, any guarantee of support is conditional upon students maintaining satisfactory academic progress in their programs.  
 
The Graduate School allots each doctoral program a pre-set number of support units that are assigned to continuing students as teaching assistantships, proctorships, and, in consultation with the dean, dissertation fellowships.  

These allotments are tied to a wide complex of needs within these units, including undergraduate enrollments and the professional development of graduate students as future faculty (in the case of teaching assistantships), technical and programmatic support (proctorships), and graduate students' research and scholarship (research assistantships and fellowships). Upon recommendations from academic programs and other units at Brown, student appointments are then processed by the Graduate School according to the original allotments and to these criteria, among others.  
 
Doctoral students with an interest in support issues should send comments or questions to Graduate_Dean@brown.edu.