Student support funds at UCLA are provided to graduate students in the form of grants, fellowships, teaching assistantships, and graduate student researcher appointments. Graduate students apply for Departmental/Graduate Division financial aid during the online application process.

International students at UCLA are not eligible for support based solely on need (i.e., loans and work-study jobs). However, non-UCLA support may be applied for by contacting national, international, or private foundations directly.

A student may receive both a Departmental or Graduate Division award, and an award based solely on financial need if the need-based criteria are met. You are strongly encouraged to apply in all categories for which you may qualify. Students may be considered for additional or alternate fellowships pending the decision of the Committee during the admissions review period.

A qualified student may receive both a Departmental or Graduate Division award. You are strongly encouraged to apply in all categories for which you may qualify. Students may be considered for additional or alternate fellowships pending the decision of the Committee during the admissions review period. You may also apply for non-UCLA support by contacting national, international, or private foundations directly.

You may also apply for non-UCLA support by contacting national, international, or private foundations directly.

• Fellowships and Grants

Awards are competitive and open to all graduate students. Departmental fellowships and grants are awarded in varying amounts and may include registration fees and nonresident tuition.

Most fellowship and grant awards are for one academic year. Entering students may, however, receive offers covering all the years of study through degree attainment. Some federally-funded awards provide additional summer coverage. Recipients of fellowships, traineeships, and grants must maintain satisfactory progress throughout their tenure. They must be registered and enrolled each quarter for a minimum of 8 units and are expected to devote fulltime to study and research.

To be considered for a Fall 2008 fellowship, applicants must file the Application for Graduate Admission, including the $80.00 processing fee and all required supplementary documents by the application deadline. Submit the Fellowship Application for Entering Graduate Students (found in the Application for Graduate Admission) together with the rest of the application and additional material.

• Nonresident Tuition Fellowships

A limited number of fellowships are awarded by departmental recommendation to cover either the nonresident tuition or the registration fees and living expenses of graduate students with distinguished academic records. Applicants must be enrolled in a full-time program of study and may not be recipients of awards from federal, state or private foundations that provide tuition coverage. Contact the Department's Office of Student Affairs for more details.

• Academic Apprenticeships

"Academic Apprentice Personnel" is the term applied to registered graduate students who have fulfilled the University's established criteria for appointment to teaching or research assistantships (no more than 50% time), and for which they are compensated at rates approved annually by the Regents of the University of California.

These apprenticeships are intended to provide qualified students with relevant training experience for academic and academic-related careers in teaching and research and to augment limited resources from within the University for graduate student support. As a matter of University policy, apprentice personnel in both the teaching and research series are considered primarily as students being professionally trained.

Graduate students who are recipients of teaching and research assistantships must meet all registration and enrollment criteria established by the Department. They must also maintain satisfactory progress throughout their appointments. Preference is usually given to doctorate students.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistants are selected on the basis of scholarship and promise as teachers under the tutelage and supervision of regular faculty members who are responsible for curriculum and instruction in the University.

Eligibility for teaching assistantships at UCLA for admitted applicants whose first language is not English depends upon passing the Test of Spoken English (TSE) which is administered by ETS at TOEFL centers abroad) or, upon arrival at UCLA, the Test of Oral Proficiency (TOP); read more details.

TOP is UCLA’s own examination designed specifically for screening the spoken English skills of international students before their appointment as teaching assistants. You are not required to take both tests.

A passing score of 50 is needed on the TSE; a clear pass of 7.1 or higher is needed on the TOP. A provisional pass of 6.4 to 7 permits those who are concurrently enrolled in English as a Second Language 39a, 39b, 39c, 38, or 108 to accept a teaching assistantship; eligibility for further TAships is contingent upon passing the course.

Note that taking either the TOS or the TOP is required for prospective Teaching Assistants, in addition to the required TOEFL or IELTS test and the mandatory English as a Second Language Placement Examination.

Contact the Office of Student Affairs for more details.

Graduate Student Researchers

This is the most common form of financial assistance. Faculty members obtain contracts from various government agencies and industry to carry out research in applied topics. A portion of these funds is meant to pay trained graduate students a salary to assist in research which will normally result in a thesis for the student and scientific progress in the topic. Research Assistantships are individually negotiated between each student and his/her thesis advisor. Students must convince their advisors that they have the necessary skills, background, and motivation to effectively participate in relevant areas of research. This will normally happen after the student has performed well in a number of advanced courses offered by the adviser.

Contact the Office of Student Affairs for more details.