Awards, Fellowships, and Funding Opportunities
Major opportunities for awards, fellowships, and funding for undergraduate and graduate students in CMU's Department of English are listed below.
English students are encouraged to consult with their advisors and faculty mentors for additional opportunities.
For Undergraduate Students:
Department-Level
- Adamson Awards
- Alan and Gloria Siegel Award in Professional Writing
- Bart and Kathleen Astor Endowed Creative Writing Award
- Edythe and Leon Nagin Award for Creative Writing Honors Thesis
- Film & Visual Media Studies Awards
- Grillo-Marxuach Family Scholarship
- Kennedy Family Endowed Scholarship
- Marion Mulligan Sutton, MM 1965, Internship Fund
College-Level
University-Level
- Andrew Carnegie Scholars Program
- Meeting of the Minds Awards
- SURF: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships - full-time summer research opportunities at CMU
- SURG: Small Undergraduate Research Grants - funding for materials and supplies for undergraduate projects in all fields of study
- SURG/CW: SURG Crosswalk - funding for interdisciplinary projects
- ISURG: International SURG - funds to support research projects while studying abroad
For Graduate Students:
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Departmental M.A. Scholarships
Students accepted into any of the English Department's (4) M.A. programs are eligible to receive a Departmental Scholarship. To learn more about the funding opportunities in each of these programs, please view the following pages:
- Research Assistantships (RA-ships)
Who is eligible: All graduate students are eligible to apply for all positions.
Amount: $17/hour for about 50 hours a semester.
Our students work with faculty members on a wide array of assignments designed to supplement their coursework and to give them valuable professional experience. These positions generally involve 5-10 hours of work per week at $17 per hour. Available positions are generally advertised to incoming students at the beginning of each fall term.
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Teaching Assistant for Reading and Writing in an Academic Context (76-100)
Who is eligible: MA students.
Reading and Writing in an Academic Context, is the course offered to our first-year, multilingual students at Carnegie Mellon. The course is a demanding one to teach in that the students require a lot of feedback on their writing throughout the semester. We employ roughly 8-10 M.A. students each year to provide supplemental instruction to 76-100 students at peak times throughout the semester.
These TA-ships are funded for roughly 50 hours in the fall semester. The rate of pay is $17/hour. All TAs must attend a weekly practicum.
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Tutoring at the Student Academic Success Center
Who is eligible: All admitted graduate students are invited to apply for a tutoring position at the Student Academic Success Center (SASC).
Amount: $18-20, depending on level of graduate study
The Student Academic Success Center supports student success by providing academic coaching, subject-specific tutoring, effective communication strategies, accommodations for students with disabilities, and language support for multi-lingual learners. We also engage with faculty and with staff to improve the coordination and professional development for academic advisors.
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Department Graduate Student Teaching Award
Who is eligible: Graduate instructors nominated for the award
Amount: Extra research allowance of $250
The Graduate Student Teaching Award recognizes the excellent teaching done by graduate students on behalf of the Department of English. Each spring, the Director of Graduate Studies and other members of the Graduate Studies Committee review and assess materials from graduate instructors nominated for the award.
A separate Dietrich College Graduate Teaching Award is also offered annually, to one teaching graduate student from within the College.
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Teaching Opportunities (outside 76-100 and 76-101)
Ph.D. students are encouraged to design and teach their own special topics courses. Advanced Ph.D. students also sometimes teach courses in their areas of interest during the academic year. Regular session courses are typically offered to advanced undergraduates (junior and senior level).
Ph.D. students also assist in other courses. They are sometimes hired as teaching assistants in courses offered by other departments in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In addition, The Heinz School of Public Policy and Management and the Tepper School of Business have recruited our Ph.D. students to assist in their courses. Duties often include reading and grading written assignments, but may also require other kinds of expertise, for example with non-native speakers of English.
