Financial Assistance

Teaching Assistantships

Because we understand that your development as a professional is as important as your development as a scholar, and that it is important to keep student loan debt to a minimum, we offer teaching assistantships to all applicants who are admitted to our graduate programs and who have requested that form of financial support.

To provide students with the training necessary to become successful teachers, we offer a week-long workshop on composition pedagogy before students begin their programs. During their first semester of teaching, new teaching assistants also take ENGL 5003/Composition Pedagogy.

Stipends for 2025-2026 for graduate teaching assistants enrolled in the English M.A. program are $16,400 (or approx. $1,822/month for 9 months).

Stipends for 2025-2026 for graduate teaching assistants enrolled in the English Ph.D. program are $17,325 (or approx. $1,925/month for 9 months).

All teaching assistants also receive a full tuition waiver and the option of a benefits package.  

NOTE: The teaching assistant stipend is paid through the Payroll office and is subject to federal and state taxes, while the doctoral fellowship is a supplement paid through the Financial Aid office that does not have taxes deducted from it by the university (unless the student is international, in which case taxes may be deducted). Therefore, doctoral fellows may owe taxes on their fellowship supplements, depending on their particular financial situations.

Typically, M.A. students receive four semesters of assistantship, and doctoral students receive eight semesters of assistantship. Ph.D. students may apply for one or two additional semesters of assistantship through the Program in Rhetoric and Composition Office depending upon their level of progress in the program throughout their first four years. 

Teaching assistants typically teach two classes in the fall and two in the spring. However, Ph.D. students can apply for a fourth-year research assistantship if they have made sufficient progress through the program. The RA-ship opportunity allows doctoral students to teach one section and to complete dissertation-related research under the advisement of their dissertation director for both the fall and spring semesters of their fourth year in the program, further supporting their timely progress toward the degree.

Both M.A. and Ph.D. students may apply to teach over the summer, but since summer teaching positions are few, they are not guaranteed.

Teaching assistants may request to teach a range of courses, including those below, though M.A.-level TAs typically teach Composition I and II for both years of their program; doctoral-level TAs also typically teach Composition I and II for the first two years of their program, after which they may have opportunities to teach other courses.

  • ENGL 00001 – Writing Lab
  • ENGL 10103 – Composition I (regular, honors, and online)
  • ENGL 10203 – Composition II (regular, honors, and online)
  • ENGL 10303 – Technical Composition II
  • ENGL 12103 – Introduction to Literature
  • ENGL 20003 – Advanced Composition
  • ENGL 20133 – Essay Writing
  • ENGL 30503 – Technical and Professional Writing
  • ENGL 11103 – World Literature: Beginnings to 1650 CE (regular, honors, and online)
  • ENGL 11203 – World Literature: 1650 CE to Present (regular, honors, and online)

If you teach ENGL 12103/Introduction to Literature, you have the opportunity to apprentice with a professor, learning under his/her/their guidance how to lecture, lead discussion groups, and respond to student writing. Except for ENGL 12103, teaching assistants are the instructors of record, not graders for department faculty.

Doctoral Fellowships

Most of our Ph.D. students receive either a Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship or a Doctoral Academy Fellowship. All Ph.D. applicants who apply for teaching assistantships are automatically considered for these fellowships, and no separate application for the fellowships is required.

Distinguished Doctoral Fellows

Distinguished Doctoral Fellows receive a teaching assistantship that pays $17,325 over 9 months, in addition to tuition waivers for fall and spring semesters and the option of a benefits package. They also receive a fellowship that pays $22,000 so that they receive a combined nine-month stipend of $39,325. Because Distinguished Doctoral Fellows are not compensated over the summer, they should plan to use the summer (if they do not receive a summer teaching assistantship) to pursue external employment/internships and/or complete independent reading and writing toward the fulfillment of program requirements (foreign language requirement, comprehensive exams, and/or dissertation defense). Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School each year (upon nomination by the English Department) and are renewable up to four years. Distinguished Doctoral Fellows typically have a grade point average of 3.85 or higher on their M.A. work, a GRE verbal score of 163 or higher, and a GRE analytical writing score of 4.5 or higher.

Doctoral Academy Fellows

Doctoral Academy Fellows receive a teaching assistantship that pays $17,325 over 9 months, in addition to tuition waivers for fall and spring semesters and the option of a benefits package. They also receive a fellowship that pays $12,000 so that they receive a combined twelve-month stipend of $29,325. Because Doctoral Academy Fellows are not compensated over the summer, they should plan to use the summer (if they do not receive a summer teaching assistantship) to pursue external employment/internships and/or complete independent reading and writing toward the fulfillment of program requirements (foreign language requirement, comprehensive exams, and/or dissertation defense). Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School each fall (upon nomination by the English Department) and are renewable up to four years. Doctoral Academy Fellows typically have a grade point average of 3.65 or higher on their M.A. work, a GRE verbal score of 160 or higher, and a GRE analytical writing score of 4.0 or higher.

Diane Blair Fellowships for the Study of Southern Literature (Note: Blair fellowships are not scheduled to be awarded every year. Please contact the Director of Graduate Studies to confirm when they will next be available.)

Depending on their availability each year, Diane Blair Fellowships for the Study of Southern Literature are awarded to incoming M.A. and Ph.D. students interested in the study of Southern literature and culture. A Diane Blair Fellow typically receives funding for two to four years; each recipient is also awarded a teaching assistantship. To be considered for a Diane Blair Fellowship, you should explain your interest in Southern literature and culture in the statement of purpose included with your application to the English Department. We also recommend that your writing sample emphasize some aspect of Southern literature and culture. If you have questions, contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Susan Marren, at smarren@uark.edu.

Graduate School's Financial Aid and Cost of Attendance Page

https://graduate-and-international.uark.edu/graduate/costs-and-funding/financial-aid/index.php


Emergency Funding

Please see this page of the Graduate School's website that describes several resources to which graduate students can apply for emergency funding: https://uark.sharepoint.com/sites/GSIE-Graduate-Students/SitePages/costs-and-funding/home.aspx#emergency-funding. Students can apply to either the Needy Family Emergency Fund or the International Education Catastrophic Fund, but not both.


Travel Funding


Graduate School Travel Grants

Information about Graduate School travel grants (for presentation / research / international trips) is available here: https://uark.sharepoint.com/sites/GSIE-Graduate-Students/SitePages/costs-and-funding/Travel-Grants.aspx.


Graduate Student Professional Congress (GPSC) Travel Grants

Information about GPSC travel grants is available here: https://gpsc.uark.edu/gpsc-travel-grants/ 


A.L. Chilton Foundation Award: 

The A. L. Chilton Foundation Award was established to assist graduate students with a one-time award of up to $500 to support research activities such as:

  1. Assisting with travel relating to research,

  2. Purchasing material that may be needed for the student’s research that is not available at the university, or

  3. Purchasing, leasing, or renting any other items or services that will assist the student’s research.

While preference is given to students enrolled in graduate programs in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the College of Education and Health Professions, proposals from graduate students in other colleges are welcome.

More information about this award can be found here: https://uark.sharepoint.com/sites/GSIE-Graduate-Students/SitePages/costs-and-funding/A.L.-Chilton-Foundation-Award.aspx 


Other Funding Resources

Students are encouraged to explore other possible funding sources beyond those offered by our department. See the links below and also consider reviewing the web page for the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards here: https://awards.uark.edu/index.php.