Funding Opportunities

Competitive financial assistance is available to many public administration and political science students. Rockefeller College offers graduate assistantships and fellowships to selected MA, MPA and PhD students on the basis of merit, previous academic achievement, and potential for success as a student at Rockefeller College. The financial assistance can take one of five forms: 1) Teaching and Research Assistantships, 2) Diversity Scholarships, 3) Center, Institute, and Program Fellowships, and 4) Rockefeller College Internships. These five forms are described below.

1) Teaching and Research Assistantships

PhD and MPA applicants are automatically considered for departmental assistantships when they apply by the funding deadline.  See admission pages for deadlines and requirements.

	Duration	Stipend	Work Requirement	Tuition Waiver
MPA Assistantship	1 Year	Approximately $9,000	18-20 hours administrative or research	Full-time tuition waived in some cases
PhD Public Administration Assistantship	3 Years (w/4th year possible)	Approximately $15,000	18-20 hours teaching or research	Full-time tuition waived
PhD Political Science Assistantship	3-4 Years	Approximately $14,000	18-20 hours teaching or research	Full-time tuition waived

Applicants should fill out the Graduate Assistantship/Fellowship Application as part of their online application for admissions.

2) University at Albany Diversity Scholarships

The University at Albany offers competitive, merit-based Carson Carr Graduate Diversity Scholarships to graduate students who will contribute to the diversity of the student body in their graduate or professional program.  Applicants must be United States citizens or have permanent residency, and must have completed an application for graduate study at the University. The Selection Committee will give special consideration to students who are of a race or ethnicity that is underrepresented in our graduate and professional programs, but will not make awards solely on that basis. Every applicant will be evaluated on his or her own merits.  The Carson Carr Graduate Diversity Scholarship deadline corresponds with applicant's departmental deadline for financial assistance (see admission pages for deadlines and requirements). 

3) Rockefeller College Center, Institute, and Program Fellowships

Each year Rockefeller College, its affiliated centers, and research partners offer a range of fellowship opportunities to incoming graduate students.  In most cases, these fellowships include a full graduate student stipend (currently approximately $15,000 for doctoral students and $9,000 for master's students) and a full tuition waiver ($8,870 for in-state and $15,160 for out-of-state students).  In exchange for financial support, students serve as research assistants for approximately 18-20 hours per week in the centers, institutes, and programs.  The research assistant positions give graduate students opportunities for policy research, applied policy analysis, and professional development.  In addition to the financial benefits, research assistants have a unique opportunity to take concepts and knowledge from the classroom and apply them to interesting and important real world policy and management problems.  In many cases, these positions lead to opportunities for paid summer employment. 

In addition, each semester the centers and institutes have numerous paid and unpaid internship and research assistant opportunities through on-going grants and contracts. Even if a prospective student's fellowship application is unsuccessful, he or she should continue to contact the centers and institutes each semester to learn about shorter term opportunities.

• Center for International Development (CID) Graduate Student Fellowship
• Rockefeller Institute of Government (RIG) Graduate Student Fellowship
• Professional Development Program (PDP) Graduate Student Fellowship
• Center for Technology and Government (CTG) Graduate Student Fellowship
• National Center for Security & Preparedness Graduate Student Fellowship
• Center for Women in Government & Civil Society Graduate Student Fellowship

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4) Rockefeller College Internships

The College's Office of Career and Alumni programs can help students find paid internships to help defray the cost of their graduate education. To learn more about internship opportunities, visit our Careers and Internships page.