Tuition & Financial Support
While tuition for graduate students in 2024-2025 is $14,578/year for Illinois residents and $27,530/year for nonresidents, the iSchool is able to offer full support for PhD students for five academic years (excluding summers).
Tuition and fees are direct costs charged by the university. The cost of attendance also includes indirect cost allowances for food, housing, books, supplies and other expenses. You will not be billed by the university for these costs unless you live in university housing. Use the Illinois Cost Calculator for an estimated cost of attendance.
This information is subject to change without notice.
How is support provided?
Most doctoral students are supported by Research (RA) or Teaching assistantships (TA). To hold a TAship, students must complete the CITL Graduate Teaching Academy, and international students must comply with the Policy Statement Regarding the Appointment of Non-Native English-Speaking Teaching Assistants. If admitted, additional information will be shared in the admissions letter regarding how to fulfill both these requirements.
These forms of financial aid generally include full tuition and partial fee waivers. Students will owe additional fees assessed by the University of Illinois, approximately $560 (in Fall and Spring).
Most assistantships for PhD students are awarded by the iSchool (or faculty within the iSchool), information about additional opportunities is available from the Assistantship Clearinghouse and the University Library.
What are my obligations as a research and teaching assistant?
The Graduate Assistant Employee Orientation, which is offered through the Graduate College, provides orientation for teaching, research, graduate, and pre-professional assistants on terms of appointment, waivers, stipends and benefits. We expect our students to attend this orientation. We also require our PhD students who work as Teaching Assistants (TAs) to take training on Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
All appointments reflect the actual percentage and length of time the employee works. For example, a student supported by a 50% Research assistantship (RA) would spend an average of 20 hours a week on their assigned work for that appointment. Similarly, a 50% TAship also requires an average of 20 hours of work each week. See the Graduate College handbook for details.
Students are expected to maintain satisfactory academic progress to be eligible for continued support (including a minimum GPA of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale and timely progress through the program). Students holding a 50% assistantship awarded and/or administered by the School must register for at least 10 hours each semester during the academic year.