Funding

The department normally awards between five and eight graduate teaching assistantships each year.

Normally students aren’t admitted into the program unless we can offer them an assistantship. 

The assistantships provide in- and out-of-state tuition remission (except for fees) and a stipend of $26,181 per year on a 9-month contract (monthly: $2,909). This is currently one of the best financial packages offered by any MA program in philosophy in the United States. 

While there is no guarantee of summer funding, in recent years we have been able to provide limited summer funding in the form of research assistantships and other departmental work. 

The fees are approximately $1,435 per semester. You can arrange to pay them over time rather than all at once with a payroll deduction. 

Virginia Tech provides a health insurance subsidy of 88% for graduate students with GTA positions, which matches what the university offers other employees. International students are required to have health insurance through the university, and domestic students are encouraged to do so as well. For plan information, including premiums, please see here.