Graduate Funding & Scholarships

Graduate Teaching Assistantships


The Department of German Studies offers graduate teaching assistantships for qualified students, which include a tuition and registration waiver (application form). Graduate Assistants/Associates in Teaching (GATs) at the University of Arizona teach German language courses and might fulfill other tasks to earn their support. All graduate students in German Studies (MA, PhD, domestic, international, from the Universities of Leipzig, Cologne, and Arizona) are eligible for financial support by way of graduate teaching assistantships and the scholarships listed below. The Universities of Leipzig and Cologne offer full assistantships to PhD students from the University of Arizona for their second year in Germany.


English Proficiency


If English is not your first language, your graduate assistantship is subject to documentation of your English language proficiency. All international graduate students wanting to be hired as Graduate Assistants in Teaching (GATs) who have scored below 26 points in the Speak section of the TOEFL iBT test are required to take the Task-Based English Speaking Test or T-BEST designed to measure your ability to communicate in English. A fee for the T-BEST test will be charged to your bursar's account. More information can be found here.


Summer Teaching


Summer teaching is available for qualified GATs on a competitive basis. The courses generally offered in the summer are German 101 & 102, intensive first- and second-year German 111 & 211, and General Education courses offered in English online. In addition, one or two GATs usually have the opportunity to serve as assistants to the Director of the Summer Abroad Program in Leipzig, which includes teaching language courses as well as helping organize excursions and other activities in Leipzig and its environs. Similarly, one GAT usually fufills this role in the Munich program.


Max Kade Fellowship


With the support of the Max Kade Foundation, the Department of German Studies at the University of Arizona awards two first-year Max Kade Graduate Fellowships in the amount of $16,000 each plus tuition fee remission for students beginning graduate work in the Fall. The next year(s) of graduate study will be funded by a graduate teaching assistantship. Candidates will be selected on the basis of the quality of their previous work in German and their potential for scholarly work in German Studies. Those interested in applying for the Fellowship should submit a specific letter of intent and a sample of scholarly writing in either German or English in addition to the materials required of all applicants.


UA Priority Candidate


As a partner university, DAAD encourages the UA to select one priority candidate. Priority candidates from partner universities receive preferential status in the general fellowship competitions and have a considerably higher likelihood of being selected. Applicants for the UA priority candidate submit their applications to the UA Graduate College about a month prior to the national deadline. Everyone who submits to the UA Graduate College can subsequently submit to the national competition. Please direct questions about the priority candidacy to Georgia Ehlers.


Additional Funding Opportunities


  • Full-time graduate students may apply for travel grants to cover airfare and registration, or portions thereof, when presenting or holding workshops at conferences. Requests along with budget may be submitted with the Travel Authorization Form to the department head. The decision will usually be made within a month of application. Funding is contingent on departmental budget. 
  • Graduate students are eligible to apply for the Weinel Memorial Scholarship to support research or language study abroad.
  • Middlebury College offers a full scholarship for their summer language immersion program to students at Hispanic Serving Institutions (like the University of Arizona).
  • The German Summer School in New Mexico offers scholarships for their language immersion program. 
  • The DAAD offers Study Scholarships and a variety of Research Grants.
  • Additional funding information is provided by the Graduate College here, and we recommend signing up for the graduate funding listserver to receive notifications about funding opportunities throughout the year. 
  • The Volkswagen Stiftung and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation offer postdoctoral fellowships in Germany, and further post-PhD opportunities and resources will be listed here (organized by field and kind).