In recent years, students in the Psychology Ph.D. programs at CWRU have received full tuition waivers (at least 4 years) and stipends (4 years). Once students are in the program, there may be additional sources of funding available as described below. Students may also be able to teach courses (after earning the M.A.) or to assist with a project funded by a research grant. As of Fall 2020, the standard stipend for incoming graduate students in the clinical psychology program is $15,000/year for 4 years, and $7500 in year 5.

 

Graduate Psychology: Supplemental Funding Options

Locating funding options

Seeking supplemental funding is often an ongoing process, so you should search often and apply for as many options as possible to increase your odds of obtaining funding.

 

CWRU resources

Office of Graduate Studies list of internal and external graduate-level opportunities

CWRU Office of Sponsored Projects list of internal and external opportunities (less focused on graduate students but includes NRSAs)

Brisky Fellowship – awarded to a graduate student engaged in a doctoral dissertation examining child development, mental health/mental retardation.

 

Travel

Some conferences offer travel awards or may cover a portion of conference registration or travel fees if you volunteer at the conference. Look at the specific conferences that you frequent in order to see if these opportunities exist.

Endowment Sponsored Mentorship program: This program offers a 50/50 match of up to $500 (domestic) / $1000 (international) for travel expenses related to poster/paper presentations. It is a reimbursement model, so you must pay for the cost of travel up front. You will be reimbursed at a later date if you are awarded this endowment. You may only receive this award once.

GSS Verhosek Fund: This provides up to $200 for expenses related to conference presentations and up to $50 for thesis binding. This also follows a reimbursement model, meaning that you must pay the costs up front. You will be reimbursed at a later date if you receive this award.

 

External resources

NIH training grants: NIH has individual training grants that you can apply for during the predoctoral and postdoctoral phases of your career. These are called NRSAs. But it is important to determine whether the topic area that you are researching is aligned with NIH priorities. You can search the NIH reporter to see what types of projects are being funded and also speak with a program officer at NIH to discuss your ideas. Also, in order to have the best chance of receiving an NRSA, your mentor needs to have a history of NIH (or similar) funding.