The department is typically able to award four or five graduate assistantships to each incoming class. Each assistantship provides a tuition waiver plus a yearly stipend. The stipend for the 2023-24 academic year is roughly $15,300, and the tuition waiver covers the portion of tuition calculated as the instructional charge. Graduate assistantships are renewable for a second year, provided that the student makes good academic progress and conforms to other university policies governing graduate assistantships. Graduate assistants are assigned indirect instructional duties, which typically include grading, tutoring, proctoring exams, and holding office hours. Information about how to apply for a graduate assistantship is available at applying to the program.
In addition to the graduate assistantships, a limited number of one-year Graduate School tuition waivers are available to admitted philosophy M.A. students. (For the fall 2024 admissions cycle, the department was given three such waivers.) The waivers are awarded on a competitive basis. Like the graduate assistantship waivers, they cover the portion of tuition calculated as the instructional charge.
NIU’s Graduate School offers information about other funding options.
Some students also work as graduate assistants for other units. Human Resources maintains a list of student job openings on campus.