Funding

The Department of Sociology provides competitive funding packages to all full-time graduate students in the department. Our funding approach-which includes employment, scholarships, and research and travel awards-is designed to support both the scholarly and the professional development of each graduate student.

Guaranteed Funding

All full-time graduate students receive guaranteed funding in the form of research and teaching assistantships (normally twelve hours/week), and, for post-candidacy PhD students, the opportunity to teach as a Principal Instructor. Students pay their tuition and fees out of these incomes. Whenever possible, the department also covers additional tuition fees for international students.
  • MA (course-based) three terms over 1.5 years of guaranteed funding (excluding Spring/Summer) for full-time students (value = ~$27,600)

  • MA (thesis-based) four terms over 2 years of guaranteed funding (excluding Spring/Summer) for full-time students (value = ~$36,800)

  • PhD twelve terms over 4 years  of guaranteed funding (value = ~$115,000)

MA students within their guaranteed funding window receive funding in the Fall and Winter terms only (September - April). Funding is not offered during the Spring and Summer terms (May - August). PhD students within their guaranteed funding window receive funding in the Fall, Winter and Spring, Summer terms (September - August).

Amounts paid for assistantships and principal instruction are determined through the Association of Employed Graduate Students' Collective Agreement. Prospective students can visit the FGPS website for an estimate of the cost of living in Edmonton as well as the latest schedule for tuition and fees.