We rank our applicants within each major and offer financial support to those at the top of the list, regardless of their financial need. We sometimes admit applicants not quite at the top of the list who have their own financial support, but we do this only when we are absolutely convinced that they have either (1) an adequate fellowship from other sources or (2) sufficient personal financial resources (around $240,000) to support themselves in the program for four to five years.
We do not entertain requests for financial support from students who were admitted without it. Fifth-year dissertation fellowships, which are open to all students who have made the required academic progress, are an exception to this rule.
Another exception arises when temporary financial support, in the form of a teaching assistantship or a fellowship, becomes available. Such temporary support is usually awarded to an unsupported student who is making exceptional progress in the program. It may be awarded for an academic year or for one semester only. In either case, it establishes no right to renewal. Temporary teaching assistantships and fellowships carry tuition remission, but fellowships carry no health benefits, and teaching assistantships carry health benefits only if they are for the entire academic year.
As already mentioned, a full-time unsupported student may work as a part-time lecturer and, after having defended a proposal, as an instructor. A part-time student is expected to satisfy his or her teaching requirement by teaching as a part-time lecturer.