Funding

What you need to know about funding at UC Davis

Funding in the Spanish graduate program typically comes from a combination of fellowships and employment. Students may also elect to apply for financial aid such as loans, workstudy, and grants.

Fellowships

• Internal: UC Davis uses a variety of internal fellowship funds to support academic graduate students. Internal fellowships can provide financial support in the form of a stipend (or "living allowance"), Tuition & Fee, Nonresident Supplemental Tuition (NRST), research, travel or any combination of these. The value of the fellowships varies from $1,000 to as much as a $50,000/year award.  Students applying for admission and those in their dissertation writing years are especially encouraged to apply.
  • Nominees for continuing fellowships are selected by the members of the Graduate Program Committee based on criteria including the following: academic merit and innovation of the applicant’s dissertation project; feasibility of the applicant’s proposed research plan; applicant’s demonstrated financial need; applicant’s demonstrated track record of academic achievement; strong letters of recommendation. Please note that these fellowships are not awarded by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese; rather, we recommend graduate students for these fellowships to Graduate Studies.

• External: External fellowships are those offered by private foundations, government agencies, and corporations. UC Davis staff are here to support you should you wish to pursue an outside fellowship opportunity.

• Spanish Graduate Program Fellowships: Opportunities for current students are announced by email, including the Joseph H. Silverman Memorial Scholarship. 

Employment

Graduate Student titles include:

• Reader (course assistant who does course admin tasks and grading)
• Teaching Assistant (TA)
• Associate In _ (AI)
• Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)

Students working at least 25% time (10 hours per week) as a Reader, Teaching Assistant, or Associate In receive a remission of resident fees & tuition.  The remission does not cover Non-resident supplemental tuition (NRST). Ph.D. student nonresidents may be offered an NRST fellowship by their home department. . For complete information on fee remissions, see Student Accounting.

Graduate Student Researchers working at least 25% time (10 hours per week) receive a full tuition remission.

Graduate students are limited to working 50% time (20 hours per week) to ensure that they have adequate time to keep up their degree progress.

Teaching Assistants and Associate Instructors for lower-division Spanish language courses are selected by the Spanish Language Committee based on several factors, including the following: academic standing and progress toward degree; teaching effectiveness shown through evaluations and observations; prior teaching experience; language pedagogy training; and departmental curricular needs. While priority typically goes to continuing graduate students with successful teaching records, the committee also considers new instructors' developmental needs. Assignments aim to serve undergraduate students effectively while providing valuable professional development for graduate instructors, with specific placements varying based on enrollment and scheduling requirements each quarter.

What type of employment is typical in my program?

Students in the Spanish graduate program frequently serve as readers, TAs, and AIs for these courses:

Elementary Spanish (traditional, hybrid, and online versions)
Intermediate Spanish (traditional, hybrid, and online versions)
Spanish Composition
Spanish for Heritage Speakers (traditional and online versions)

These positions require students to meet eligibility criteria, complete required training, and engage in pedagogical learning and development. 

• Teaching Assistants and Associate Instructors for lower-division Spanish language courses (SPA 1-33) are selected by the Spanish Language Committee based on several factors, including the following: academic standing and progress toward degree; teaching effectiveness shown through evaluations and observations; prior teaching experience; language pedagogy training; and departmental curricular needs. While priority typically goes to continuing graduate students with successful teaching records, the committee also considers new instructors' developmental needs. Assignments aim to serve undergraduate students effectively while providing valuable professional development for graduate instructors, with specific placements varying based on enrollment and scheduling requirements each quarter.

There may be opportunity for graduate students to teach an upper division undergraduate course in a given quarter. 

• Associate Instructors for upper-division courses offered by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese (i.e. courses of SPA 100/POR 100 or above) are selected from the most advanced graduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese by the departmental chair, in consultation with relevant departmental faculty and staff, based on several factors, including the following: Academic standing and progress toward degree; teaching effectiveness shown through evaluations and observations; prior teaching experience; academic background and/or teaching experience in the specific topic to covered in the seminar; the faculty supervisor’s capacity to mentor the Associate Instructor in relevant course content and teaching strategies; departmental curricular needs. While priority typically goes to senior, continuing graduate students with successful teaching records, the department also considers instructors' developmental needs. Assignments aim to serve undergraduate students effectively while providing valuable professional development for graduate instructors, with specific placements varying based on enrollment and scheduling requirements each quarter. It is important to keep in mind that upper-division teaching opportunities are, in general, available to Associate Instructors on a limited basis.

When not employed in their home department, students sometimes seek employment opportunities in other programs instead of their home department in order to expand their resume.