G3.15 Funding and Financial Information
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers many types of funding opportunities for both prospective and current graduate students.
Two departmental web pages contain information on funding for prospective and current students respectively:
https://spanport.wisc.edu/prospective-grad-funding/
https://spanport.wisc.edu/current-grad-funding/
The Graduate School Academic Policy and Procedure page provides information about UW- Madison assistantships at: https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/assistantships/
See also the financial aid web pages of UW Madison’s Office of Student Financial Services and the Graduate School:
https://financialaid.wisc.edu/
https://grad.wisc.edu/funding/
The financial guarantee graduate students are offered upon admission to our department is most often fulfilled in the form of a teaching assistantship. All of our TAships provide tuition remission, health insurance benefits, and a stipend. The stipend amount varies depending on the percentage of the TAship. Additional funding could come from project or research assistantships, when available, or fellowships.
TA positions provide financial aid to graduate students as well as opportunities for acquiring valuable teaching experience. The title of teaching assistant (TA) applies to graduate students who have been assigned teaching responsibilities in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese under the supervision of a faculty member. TAs are included in a labor agreement between the State of Wisconsin and the Teaching Assistants Association. To be considered full-time by the Registrar for loan deferment and for certification of student immigration status, non-dissertator PAs and TAs who hold an appointment of at least 33.33% must be enrolled for 6 credits, or those who hold an appointment of at least 50% must be enrolled for 4 credits.
For information on TA duties and procedures, see the “Graduate Student Teaching” section of this handbook.
Research assistantships (RAships) allow students to assist in the research program of the department in a project that will meet the requirements for the Master’s or doctoral thesis. The work performed is primarily to further the education and training of the student. Research assistants are required to carry a full graduate load of eight to fifteen credits per semester including research or thesis credits.
Project assistantships (PAships) provide the opportunity for students to assist with research, training, or other academic programs or projects, which may be other than their own thesis research. Project Assistants (PAs) are included in a labor agreement between the State of Wisconsin and the Teaching Assistants Association. PAs must be registered for at least two graduate-level credits during the fall and spring semesters. There is no registration requirement for the summer session.