Humanities and Social Sciences Programs in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Humanities
- Celtic Literatures and Languages
- Classics
- Comparative Literature
- East Asian Languages and Civilizations
- English
- Film and Visual Studies
- Germanic Languages and Literatures
- History of Art and Architecture
- Inner Asian and Altaic Studies
- Linguistics
- Music
- Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
- Philosophy
- Religion
- Romance Languages and Literatures
- Slavic Languages and Literatures
- South Asian Studies
Social Sciences
- African and African American Studies
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Economics
- Government
- History
- History of Science
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Psychology
- Social Policy
- Sociology
General Funding Overview
PhD students in the humanities and social sciences programs housed in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences benefit from a comprehensive program of financial support that includes a combination of tuition grants, stipends, teaching fellowships, and a dissertation completion fellowship.
Our packages typically provide full support (tuition, fees, and basic living expenses) for a minimum of five years—the first four years of study, plus the final year (i.e., the dissertation completion year). In addition, most programs guarantee an additional year of tuition and fee support after the fourth year of study; however, it is up to each individual student (with the help of their department/advisor) to seek out their own living expense support during this additional year.
Below is an example of how funding might work for a student throughout their time at Harvard Griffin GSAS:
- grants toward tuition and the Harvard University Student Health Program paid in full for years G1 through G4 and the dissertation completion year
- a combination of stipend, teaching fellowships, and/or research assistantships during years G1 through G4
- stipend support during the dissertation completion year
- summer research support from Harvard Griffin GSAS or faculty grants following years G1 through G4
- subsidy payments to defray dental insurance and transportation costs in years G1 through G4 and the dissertation completion year.
Deferring Support
The initial Notice of Financial Support provided to students at the time of admission assumes continuous enrollment as a full-time resident student. Students may find that their actual enrollment patterns necessitate adjustments to the timing of their funding. To accommodate different enrollment patterns, certain components of the standard financial aid package (i.e., guaranteed teaching and the supplemental Top Up Stipend) can be deferred for later use. Students wishing to defer funding indicate this in the Student Aid Portal during the annual financial aid acceptance process. Students who are considering deferring funding are strongly encouraged to contact their financial aid officer to review how such actions may impact their funding in future years.
There are limits on how long each component of the funding package can be deferred. For more information, please refer to these additional policies governing each component of the standard funding package:
- summer research awards
- financial support via guaranteed teaching (see the Financial Support and Payment Obligations section of the Handbook for Students)
- supplemental Top Up Stipend
- extended tuition and health fee grants
- dissertation completion fellowships (see the Financial Support and Payment Obligations section of the Handbook for Students).
Students with External Awards in Selected Humanities and Social Sciences Programs
Eligible PhD students in selected humanities and social sciences programs who receive external awards that substitute for Harvard Griffin GSAS funding may have two options for coordinating their external awards and Harvard Griffin GSAS funding. Students may choose the option that best suits their needs.
Option 1
Eligible PhD students may qualify for a Harvard Griffin GSAS award bonus by combining their Harvard Griffin GSAS funding and the external award.
- The first $4,000 of outside funding received will be treated as supplemental to the standard Harvard Griffin GSAS funding package; any outside funding in excess of $4,000 will be used to replace Harvard Griffin GSAS funding dollar for dollar.
Option 2
Eligible PhD students may choose to be supported only by their external award and defer their Harvard Griffin GSAS stipend support to a future academic year.
- No more than one year of Harvard Griffin GSAS stipend support can be deferred.
- All deferred Harvard Griffin GSAS stipend support must be used by the conclusion of the G5 year.
- Students may not teach during any term in which they are taking a deferred stipend.
Conditions
- External awards with a 12-month tenure ordinarily substitute for the entire Harvard Griffin GSAS 10-month academic year stipend and the summer research award.
- Please note that multiple fully funded fellowships (intended to cover living expenses, housing costs, tuition, and/or health fees) may not be held concurrently.
- The external award policy applies to awards that replace guaranteed tuition and health fee grants and guaranteed stipend awards.
- Under certain circumstances, small one-time honorary stipends, grants for specific research costs, and grants for conference/research travel may not require adjustments to Harvard funding. Students receiving such awards should contact the Office of Financial Aid to determine how Harvard funding will be affected.
- Because the Harvard Dissertation Completion Fellowship (DCF) is available only to students with no other completion funding, all external completion fellowships substitute for Harvard DCF funding. Students with external completion funding may be eligible for the bonus described in Option 1 above; students cannot defer the Harvard DCF for use after an external completion fellowship.
- In cases where an external award's regulations conflict with Harvard Griffin GSAS's external award policy, the rules of the funding source may supersede this external award policy.