Graduate Program
Financial Aid
Teaching Assistantships
To qualify, a student must hold a B.A. A teaching assistant is employed for nine months of half-time service (20 hours per week) and is apprenticed to a supervising faculty member. Duties progress from observation to assisting the faculty member with class materials, drills, and instruction. Teaching Assistants in consultation with the lower-division coordinator may enroll in SPN/POR 398T, a course on teaching methodology. This course is offered only in the Fall.
Assistant Instructorships
To qualify, a student must hold an M.A. or the equivalent, and must have been a teaching assistant for one semester and have completed SPN/POR 398T, or have taught in an accredited secondary school or college for one year. The 398T requirement may be waived upon consultation with the lower-division coordinator in the case of a student who has taken an equivalent course elsewhere. Normally, duties include instructional responsibility for one or two classes each semester. All international graduate students and graduate students whose first language is not English must pass the English Language Assessment and attend the International TA/AI Orientation in order to be appointed to a TA or AI position.
For further information please refer to the ÒPolicies and Procedures for the Appointment and Re-appointment of Teaching Assistants and Assistant Instructors in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese."
Fellowships
Various types of fellowships are available to incoming and continuing graduate students. Most are administered through the Graduate School. As a general rule, fellowships require no service from the recipient. They may provide for payment of tuition and required fees in addition to the stipend. Information on fellowship opportunities may be requested from the graduate coordinator.
Carrie Lee Kennedy and Oliver William Kennedy Fellowships: Through the generosity of the late Professor Ruth Lee Kennedy, the department has two special fellowships for which graduate students already enrolled in the department may apply.
The Carrie Lee Kennedy Fellowship is for graduate or undergraduate students of exceptionally outstanding ability who are studying the Golden Age of Spanish Literature. The award may be used during the summer. Amount varies. Recipients are selected by a faculty committee appointed by the department chair.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15.
The Oliver William Kennedy Fellowship is for a graduate student or a young faculty member for travel to Spain or other European countries to do research in the Golden Age of Spanish Literature. The award may be used during the summer. Amount varies. Recipients are selected by a faculty committee appointed by the department chair.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15.
Travel Grants and Research Grants
Graduate students may apply for travel and research grants awarded by the Graduate School and the department. Competition for these awards is held each semester. Applications are available from the graduate coordinator.
Lilia M. Casis Spanish Research Fund: These funds are available for two purposes:
- to help defray printing expenses for masters theses/reports, or dissertations,
- for travel to an academic conference to present a paper.
Applications for Casis funds are available from the graduate coordinator.
Other Aid
The University's Office of Student Financial Services administers several long-term loan programs, the College Work-Study Program (for which graduate students are eligible), and a short-term loan program for registration and other emergency needs.
For more information, write to:
Office of Student Financial Services
The University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Box 7758
Austin, Texas
78713-7758.