Financial Aid and Funding Opportunities

We strive to provide funding for our incoming students, but admission does not guarantee funding. Every year in the spring, current students may apply for additional years of funding through the department. Each year we have several funding packages that are awarded on a competitive basis, that consist of student academic appointments (SAAs) that range from teaching (Associate Instructorships) to Graduate Assistantships working with ASP on Title VI NRC Outreach initiatives, as a Grader for our Africa- focused area studies course (AFRI-), or on the staff of the Africa Today journal. We also have hourly positions that in certain cases can be combined with other funding for support of 10-20 hours per week. Further, we offer professional internships with Africa Today.

Indiana University provides an array of grants and fellowships for its graduate students. In addition to departmental awards, graduate students in African Studies may apply for grants in support of study and/or research in an African country from the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs.

There are additional fellowships given by the University Graduate School and the College of Arts and Sciences (COLL). For example, our graduate students have been very successful in obtaining the COLL travel award for support in presenting papers at professional conferences. Please note that most of those awards are for advanced students who have reached candidacy. For more information, please see our website and that of the Graduate School.

Student Academic Appointments (SAA)*

Students holding an academic appointment (Assistant Instructor or Graduate Assistant positions) must register for at least 6 credit hours for each semester of the appointment. Some SAA positions require a student to use G901. Advanced students taking G901 to fulfill the SAA requirement will not receive a fee remit. See G901 for more information on this special limited credit for students who have reached PhD candidacy. Detailed information about Student Academic Appointments can be found in the application materials for the appointments, which are usually sent out in April.

*Test of English Proficiency for International Associate Instructor Candidates

International students, or students whose native language is not English, must take the Test of English Proficiency for International Associate Instructor Candidates (TEPAIC) through the Department of Second Language Studies before they can teach. They must also have taken the TOEFL (with a minimum score of 79) or passed the IEPE before they are eligible to take the TEPAIC. No exceptions to this rule are made. The test is offered several times throughout the year through the Department of Second Language Studies. Please make sure to check the dates for the exams.

The GradGrants Center

We also offer a limited number of awards that are announced via the African Studies listserv and the Tuesday ASP General Bulletin.

The GradGrants Center (GGC) is a free service that provides Indiana University graduate students with one-on-one assistance with grant proposal writing (by appointment) and a centralized area to access funding information.

Requesting Copies of Official Transcripts and Test Scores

Some fellowships/grants/awards accept unofficial copies of college transcripts and/or test scores (GRE, TOEFL). Upon the student’s request, the Administrative Coordinator can provide copies of transcripts or test scores. The student must request copies at least one week before the submission deadline. Last-minute or late requests may not be considered. It is the student’s responsibility to check with the awarding institution as to whether or not they will accept unofficial copies of transcripts or test scores.

Program-Specific Academic and Service Awards

The Carleton T. Hodge Prize was established by the African Studies Program to recognize annually one of our advanced Ph.D. students for their commitment to excellence in African Studies. Those eligible for the award are Indiana University students in any discipline, who are advanced in the Ph.D. program, have a concentration on topics relating to Africa, and are actively engaged in African Studies Program activities. The prize comes with a $500 award.

The African Studies Program annually recognizes outstanding teaching from among our Associate Instructors. Associate Instructors are considered for this award through observation of their teaching, student evaluations, faculty recommendations, and commitment to participation in pedagogical training. The number of awards granted varies from year to year but are between $300 to $1,000. Awards are dependent upon individual donations to the ASP program’s scholarships and awards fund.

The African Studies Program offers supplementary assistance (up to $300 travel support) to Indiana University Bloomington African Studies students (M.A. degree students and Ph.D. minor students) who are presenting Africa-focused papers at academic conferences. Awards are made on a competitive basis, with no more than three awards each year. Preference is given to students who have not received assistance in the past.

This award is named after Professor Patrick O’Meara, who served as vice-president for international affairs and as emeritus and former African Studies program director. The funds are royalties donated by the current Africa Today editors.

The IU African Students Research Award was established to assist Indiana University Bloomington graduate students who are African nationals with research or writing leading to the Ph.D. minor or the master’s degree in African Studies. Awards are dependent upon individual donations to the ASP program’s scholarships and awards fund.

This fund was established to meet emergency needs of African nationals studying on the IU Bloomington campus. The amounts awarded vary and are the ability for the ASP to assist students is fully dependent upon donations to this fund.

Awarded annually to exceptional undergraduates and graduate students in the ASP by the ASP faculty, director, and associate director. They may be awarded for academic excellence and/or service to the program.

Funded by the Department of Education, Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships (FLAS) support graduate students studying less commonly taught languages and cultures, particularly those deemed to be of critical interest to the United States. FLAS fellowships support students planning careers in college or university teaching, government service, or other fields where knowledge of foreign languages and cultures is a prerequisite for success.

FLAS application deadlines are usually in January for the upcoming summer and academic year awards. They will be announced on the HLS FLAS webpage.

FLAS funding can also be used to support research abroad or at IU during your dissertation year. However, FLAS Dissertation Year Awards should be seen as a “backup” to other awards specific to your field of study. Please seek advice from your degree advisor or ASP.

FLAS fellowships are open to graduate students who wish to learn an African language. Funding is available for intermediate level and above (second year and above), but exceptions may be made for study of language at a beginning level if the language is not offered at IU (see below). Please contact Associate Director Tavy Aherne for details.

Approved language courses include:

Akan/Twi
Arabic (focusing on Arabic-speaking African regions)
Bamana/Bamanankan
Kinyarwanda
Swahili/Kiswahili
Wolof (summer FLAS only)
Yoruba
Zulu/IsiZulu
Tutorials in other African languages (usually summer FLAS only)

Academic Year Awards

$15,000 stipend, plus tuition award of 12 credit hours per semester*.

Automatic enrollment in the graduate student health insurance plan with the cost of the student premium paid by the fellowship.

* Tuition award maximum per semester will be capped at the rate of 12 credits issued by the Indiana University Graduate School.

Summer Awards

All students, all programs

$2,500 summer stipend, plus tuition award for cost of language course only (up to $5,000).

Graduate students who are studying a language abroad may also apply for a $1,000 travel scholarship.

Eligibility

Graduate awards require enrollment in intermediate-level language instruction (Level 2) or higher. However, if you already have advanced proficiency in another language related to your studies, you are eligible to apply for a FLAS to support Level 1 study. You may also seek an exception for a language required for your degree that is not offered at IU. Specific approval for Level 1 language study for eligible applicants is required and is considered on a case-by-case basis by the ASP FLAS faculty reviewers, and ASP FLAS administrators, and with approval from the U.S. Department of Education.

In order to remain eligible for an academic year FLAS Fellowship, FLAS recipients must be enrolled in one language course and one area studies course during each semester.

Students at the doctoral level are able to apply for a FLAS fellowship to conduct dissertation research abroad. The FLAS course requirements do not apply in this instance.

Every year, there are a few hourly positions open in African Studies. These positions are announced in our weekly bulletin and filled through a competitive application process. Such positions may include the Program Assistant (Data and Communications), Editorial Intern and Book Review Editor for the journal Africa Today, and the Digital Toolbox Research Assistant (virtual outreach development for K-12).

This graduate student fellowship provides financial support for African Studies students to travel for African Studies focused presentations at conferences, either domestic or international. This fellowship is awarded annually on a competitive basis through nomination by Faculty and/or Professional Staff of the African Studies Program. Graduate students must be seeking and MA, PhD or PhD Minor with and African Studies focus. Preference is given to 1) students conducting research on African arts and culture, 2) international students, 3) students who have not received conference travel assistance in the past.

The fellowship is funded by the Sieber family in memory of the late IU Emeritus Professor Dr. Roy Sieber, Rudy Distinguished Professor of Art, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas (1962-1994). Dr. Sieber was the first American Scholar to receive a PhD in African Art and was a founding influence in African Art History, as well as the broader field of African Studies. He joined the faculty at Indiana University in 1962 as one of the original scholars associated with the African Studies Program (ASP) and helped grow the IU academic program into an internationally recognized leader in African Studies and African arts and culture. Dr. Sieber encouraged graduate students, faculty and others in the ethical collection and donation of works of art for the then IU Art Museum. Now the Eskenazi Museum of Art (EMA), its collections of African, South Pacific and Indigenous Americas are among the best in the U.S. and internationally known because of his and his students’ efforts. In 1993, he was asked to join the staff at the Smithsonian and assisted in the development of the National Museum of African Art with Warren Robbins. He would serve at the national institution for 10 years while at IU. For his dedication to African Studies, he was awarded a Distinguished Africanist Award for a lifetime of distinctions by the African Studies Association.

African Studies Program

Financial Aid and Funding Opportunities