To provide security across the years that you are a graduate student, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences provides a combination of Fellowship and Teaching Assistantship awards to Psychology PhD students. All students admitted to the program are offered a financial support package, consisting of full tuition+fees, health insurance, and a base stipend of $31,518 ($25,214 academic year and $6,304 summer) for 5 years (contingent on satisfactory progress in the program). This is different from many programs across the country which require the host labs to pay for these costs from federal or other funding sources.

Many students also receive additional financial support from grants and other sources on top of the base stipend to match other nationally ranked programs. Supplemental summer salaries may be available to students from funded research projects in their training labs. 

Fellowships for graduate study are also available from various government agencies, such as the National Institute of Mental Health and National Science Foundation, as well as from private foundations and associations. Psychology graduate students routinely receive these awards in recent years, and a number of our faculty have served on their selection committees. The Department and individual program tracks organize workshops and “grant-brewing” sessions every year before the application due dates where current students planning to apply work closely with 2-4 faculty mentors to develop their applications. 

In addition, loans and part-time jobs are available to graduate students based on need. The Office of Financial Aid processes applications for guaranteed student loans. For detailed information: https://sfs.virginia.edu/financial-aid-current-students/current-graduate-students/financial-aid-basics-graduate-students. Several clinical and community graduate students are partially supported by field placements in community settings and internship training in the University of Virginia Hospital and other agencies which have an affiliation with the Department.