Each student entering the PhD in Economics program is offered a five-year financial support package: two years of support via fellowship (years 1 and 5) and three years of support via graduate assistantships (years 2, 3, and 4). During the first year, each student will be on a fellowship and their financial support will be renewed yearly afterwards, contingent upon passing the Core Theory Examination and maintaining good academic standing.

Effective AY2024-25, the five-year financial support package includes a $40,000 yearly stipend, health and dental insurance, and coverage of most mandatory university fees.

Program & Department Funding

  • The Graduate School Fellowship is merit-based and supports two years of study, usually years 1 and 5. The other three years of study (usually years 2, 3, and 4) are supported via graduate assistantships (TAships or RAships). All who apply for admission to the PhD in Economics program are considered for the GS Fellowship. The GS Fellowship provides a monthly stipend and tuition, up to 12 units for each fall semester and up to 12 units for each semester. The Graduate School Fellowship also covers health insurance and dental insurance fees.

  • An annual teaching assistantship provides a student with a monthly stipend and covers tuition costs, normally up to 12 units for each fall semester, 12 units for each spring semester, and 12 units for each summer term (if summer coursework is necessary). Teaching assistants must be on campus before or by the first day of classes and must attend all the course’s lectures, hold office hours (at least three hours per week), as well as grade assignments and exams. TAs must remain in town until the final examinations have been graded. TAs work an average of 20 hours per week. First-time TAs must attend the mandatory Dornsife College TA Training the week before classes begin and attend the weekly TA Workshop offered by the Department. All new TAs must enroll in ECON 593x: Practicum in Teaching the Liberal Arts (2.0 units).

    Some international students must sit for an English proficiency test and be cleared to teach in order before working as a TA. Please contact the International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Coordinator at itstest@usc.edu or (213) 740-0079 to schedule the exam or request an exemption. Based on test results, some international students may be required to take an American Language Institute (ALI) course in addition to other coursework and duties.

    RESOURCES

  • Research assistants are usually hired by individual professors. The precise nature and pay for each research assistantship can vary. A full research assistantship provides a monthly stipend and covers tuition costs, usually up to 12 units per corresponding semester. An RAship also covers health insurance and dental insurance fees. Other mandatory fees are each student’s responsibility to pay. The Department, CESR, and/or Schaeffer Center may advertise some RA positions during summer terms.

  • The Department has limited funding available to assist PhD students who are invited to present research papers at conferences or to participate in selective boot-camps/workshops. Students must apply for funding before the conference or workshop takes place. This pre-approval is at the discretion of program and department leadership.

    HOW TO APPLY

    BEFORE the conference or workshop takes place, students must take the following steps to obtain pre-approval for departmental funding:

    1. Discuss the conference/workshop opportunity with your PFA (Primary Faculty Advisor). If you do not have a PFA yet, discuss this with the DDS instead
    2. If your PFA determines that the conference/workshop is sufficiently well-regarded and that presenting there will benefit your career, then apply and submit your paper
    3. Once you are invited to present, solicit a Memo of Support from your PFA. The memo should clearly indicate that your PFA vetted the conference/workshop before you applied and that they firmly believed the opportunity is respectable and beneficial to your career

    HOW TO RECEIVE GRANT FUNDS

    AFTER the conference or workshop takes place, students must do the following to request reimbursements for the pre-approved expenses:

    1. Gather supporting documents (PDF or image files only)
      • PFA’s Memo of Support
      • Conference:
        Agenda or program that lists you as a presenter
      • Workshop:
        (i) Confirmation that your application to a competitive workshop was selected
        (ii) Confirmation of your full participation in the workshop (e.g., certificate, workshop cohort website, etc.)
    2. Gather travel receipts (PDF or image files only)
    3. Submit all files to the Department

  • Limited Department funding is available for summer terms via the following sources:

    • Outstanding TA Award
    • Outstanding Second-Year Paper Award
    • Outstanding Third-Year Paper Award
    • Summer Research Award*

    *The announcement for Summer Research Awards is emailed to PhD students during the preceding spring semester.

Additional Funding Opportunities

During the three years that students are on graduate assistantships (TAships or RAships), they can also apply for other fellowships and assistantships.

  • Staff in the Graduate School serve as coordinating officials for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Ford Foundation’s Pre-Doctoral and Dissertation Completion Fellowships, the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, the U.S. Department of Education, Fulbright Hays Program, the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships, the Josephine De Karman Fellowships and the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowships.

    PhD students applying for external fellowships that are “institutionally limited,” meaning that there is a limit placed on the number of students who can apply, or whose applications require the approval of a university official, should contact the Graduate School well in advance of any deadlines.

  • The External Fellowship Boot Camp is an intensive writing workshop in which students prepare a funding application.

    In the fall, the Boot Camp is targeted to students pursuing the National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship.

    In the Spring, Boot Camp is designed for advanced PhD students in the humanities and social sciences who will be applying for a variety of kinds of support.

  • The following research centers at USC frequently hire budding economists to work as RAs: