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Funding

If your application is paid and required supplementary materials received by December 5th, you will automatically be considered for funding for the first year of study. Please see the application checklist for detailed information on when materials are due. The department offers a limited number of financial support packages for the first year of study to incoming students with outstanding records.  Students admitted with a guarantee of funding for the first year of study will also receive a guarantee of support for three additional years (contingent of maintaining satisfactory academic progress). Financial support for years two through four will be in the form of a Project Assistantship, Research Assistantship, Teaching Assistantship or fellowship and will include tuition remission, a stipend, and benefits (including medical insurance). 

Students admitted to the program without a guarantee of funding for the first year of study will receive funding for years two through four as long as they are making satisfactory academic progress. In recent semesters, students in year five have also received funding. Please see the Graduate Program Guide for information on satisfactory progress.

The funding packages for which you are automatically considered upon admission are:

University Fellowships
Fellowships offer students the opportunity for full-time study with no work responsibilities. The university has a campus-wide fellowship competition for incoming graduate students. Each year, a number of our applicants receive University Fellowship packages for the first year of study. The fellowship stipend is over $15,000 and is often accompanied by department scholarships. Fellowships also include health benefits and a tuition waiver. Additional information can be found on the University Fellowships web page.

Department fellowships
Department fellowships offer students the opportunity for full-time study with no work responsibilities. Each year, a limited number of applicants receive department fellowship packages for the first year of study. The stipend varies, but department fellowships also include health benefits and a tuition waiver.

Advanced Opportunity Fellowships
This fellowship provides a stipend, tuition, and health insurance for underrepresented students who meet the AOF eligibility criteria. Eligible students must indicate their interest in the AOF on the Graduate School online application. Interested students can also contact the Economics Department by December 5th. Additional information on the Advanced Opportunity Fellowship including eligibility criteria can be found on the AOF information web page.

Teaching Assistantships
Every year we have a few first year students who are funded through Teaching Assistantships (TA). First time TAs typically teach for large undergraduate introductory Economics courses. There are two components to each introductory course--a large lecture and a small group discussion section. A TA's main responsibility is to teach 3-4 small group discussion sections per week and attend lecture. There are a maximum of 24 students in each of these discussion sections. Other responsibilities may include grading homework and quizzes. Additional information can be found on the Assistantships web page. 

There are other sources of funding like loans through the Office of Student Financial Aid, as well as sources that are external to the university (e.g. grants, fellowships).  However the application process for those financial sources is not related to the process of admission to the Department of Economics. For more information visit the Graduate Student Funding resource page and the Office of Fellowships & Funding Resources (OFFR) Those pages will contain basic information detailing the funding resources available at UW-Madison, as well as contact information for initiating a search for other sources of funding.

Tuition and fee information is available on-line at the UW Office of the Registrar web page.