PhD Program Funding

Funding

The Department of Counseling Psychology has been very successful in providing financial support for PhD students who remain in good standing in the program. Funding is contingent upon the availability of resources and usually comes from multiple sources during doctoral study, including fellowships and assistantships, and currently includes tuition remission (except for the final year in the APA-accredited internship) and health benefits, as well as providing valuable research/teaching/clinical experiences.

Students admitted to the post-MA program are typically funded during their three years of required coursework and their dissertator year and students admitted to the post-BA program are typically funded during their first four years of required coursework and their dissertator year.

All students are required to complete an APA-accredited clinical internship in their final year of the program (typically year 5 for post-MA students and year 6 for post-BA students). The required predoctoral internship is a year-long salaried training experience that is funded by the internship site. Tuition remission is not included during the APA-accredited internship year.

We encourage incoming and returning students to explore funding opportunities outside the department as well as within the department. Graduate assistantships in other departments and administrative bodies across campus value the professional and interpersonal skills that counseling psychology PhD students bring, and historically our students have been very successful in obtaining these. Available assistantships are listed on the Student Jobs website; click on Graduate Student Jobs to view them.

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Fellowship awards

University Fellowship CompetitionThe department nominates one outstanding incoming student for the One-Year Graduate School Fellowship in early spring. The fellowship provides support for the first academic (nine-month) year to provide the student with dedicated time to engage in research with a counseling psychology faculty supervisor. The fellowship includes a stipend, remission of tuition and segregated fees, plus health insurance benefits.

Education Graduate Research Scholars FellowshipThe department is able to nominate a limited number of incoming students for the School of Education Graduate Research Scholars (Ed-GRS) fellowship each year. The Graduate Research Scholars’ community and the School of Education partner to administer this fellowship. To learn more, visit the GRS website.

Other fellowshipsOccasionally, the department is successful in nominating and securing other fellowship funding for students via competitions internal and external to UW-Madison.  For more information, visit the Graduate School website.

Graduate assistantships

The Department of Counseling Psychology has a limited number of graduate teaching assistantships. The number of TAs that the department is able to employ each year depends on departmental financial resources, course offerings, and enrollment. Salary amounts for TA positions are not negotiable. Positions in the Department of Counseling Psychology are announced in late spring to entering and continuing doctoral students. Students are also encouraged to apply to positions contact other departments for positions within their programs.

Faculty Primary Investigators in the Department of Counseling Psychology sometimes hold research grants that employ project assistants or research assistants. Availability of such positions are determined by the Primary Investigator.

Additional information about tuition, stipends and funding