Financial Aid

The UNM Department of Philosophy admits students to its Ph.D. program only if it has a reasonable expectation that it will be able to provide five years of full financial support which may be pro-rated for students who have already completed some graduate work in philosophy. The support may be in the form either of a Philosophy Teaching Assistantship (TA-ship) or an English TA-ship (teaching freshman English courses). TA-ships carry a stipend of at least $20,252 (2024-2025 academic year) and a tuition waiver. Philosophy TA’s serve as graders for Philosophy 1115, Introduction to Philosophy, their first semester and teach one section of Philosophy 1120, Logic, Reasoning, and Critical Thinking, in subsequent semesters. Philosophy graduate students supported by English TA-ships teach English 1110, Composition I, and English 1120, Composition II, in the English Department. It is possible that students who enter the program supported by English TA-ships may have the opportunity of switching over to Philosophy TA-ships in subsequent years, given the availability of such TA-ships.

Doctoral students are also eligible for the Gwen J. Barrett Memorial Fellowship, a dissertation fellowship which is available to Ph.D. students in their fifth year. More information is available on our Fellowships Page.

Advanced doctoral students may also apply for the Russel J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship established through the College of Arts & Sciences.  More information is available on the "Fellowships" page of the Arts & Sciences website.

Ph.D. students who are in the process of writing a dissertation also may be eligible, by nomination of the department, for the Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship.

Currently there is no departmentally funded financial aid available for M.A. students in their first year. Many M.A. students, however, are given tuition waivers in their second year upon establishing residency. Also, grading positions and half TA-ships are sometimes offered to M.A. students in their second and subsequent years.

The Office of Graduate Studies has a number of funding programs available to Ph.D. and M.A. students. Many of these programs allow for direct student application. For more information on these programs, please visit the Funding Resources section of the Office of Graduate Studies website.

Minority Support

The UNM Department of Philosophy has always had a significant number of minority students in its graduate program. Financial aid opportunities for minorities are provided through UNM's Office of Graduate Studies.

Travel Awards

The Philosophy Department is very pleased to announce that all current Philosophy graduate students are eligible to apply for Philosophy Travel Awards. These awards have been made available to assist current graduate students who are speaking at professional conferences. Depending on the availability of funds, the standard Travel Award will be $500.  Priority will be given to graduate students who have not previously been granted a Travel Award and, typically, a student will not be granted more than two Travel Awards per academic year.  Final decisions about these awards will be made by the Chair of Philosophy.

Please note that, as per UNM policy, these departmental Travel Awards must be processed as scholarships.  This means that any funds a student is awarded will be posted to his/her Bursars Account.

To be considered for a Travel Award:

- You must be a current Philosophy graduate student in good academic standing.

- You must be presenting a paper or a commentary at a professional conference.

- You must submit a Travel Award Application and supporting materials at least four weeks prior to the start date of the conference. If you are awaiting decision on a paper you have submitted for consideration, you may still submit an application. In this case, an award may be granted contingent on your paper being accepted for the conference program.

NEW POLICY: Effective 1 August 2015, Travel Award Applications must be submitted by the following deadlines, depending on the date of the conference at which you plan to present a paper. If you are awaiting decision on a paper you have submitted for consideration, you may still submit an application. In this case, an award may be granted contingent on your paper being accepted for the conference program.

Conference dates between 16 August and 15 January
Submission deadline: 15 August

Conference dates between 16 January and 31 May
Submission deadline: 15 January

Conference dates between 1 June and 15 August
Submission deadline: 15 May

- You must submit a Reimbursement Form, along with receipts and supporting materials, within seven business days of the end date of the conference.

- You must apply for travel funding from UNM’s Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) and UNM’s Office of Career Services. You can find information about their funding opportunities on the following sites:

GPSA: http://gpsagrants.unm.edu/

(GPSA offers the Student Research Grant (SRG) to help fund travel, lodging, and conference fees for conferences at which graduates students are making a presentation.  Click on the link for “Available Grants” at the top of the GPSA page for more information.)

Office of Career Services: http://www.career.unm.edu/students-alumni/s-cap.html

Here are the Travel Award Application and Travel Award Reimbursement forms. Students wishing to be considered for a Travel Award should submit hard copies of these forms, along with all supporting materials and receipts, to Michelle Gallegos by the deadlines stated above.  Unless you are living outside of Albuquerque, email submissions will not be accepted.