Funding and Competitive Grants
The Department of Media, Culture, and Communication offers all admitted doctoral students a complete funding and mentoring program. The Steinhardt Fellows program is designed to help PhD students undertake full-time study and research, to participate in superior academic and scholarly experiences, and to complete their studies in a timely manner.
Our package includes funding sufficient to cover tuition/fees, health insurance, and an annual stipend for a five-year period. On average, the stipend is approximately $23,000 per year; there is some variation from year-to-year related to the cost of tuition/fees and health insurance. Students are expected to maintain satisfactory progress toward their degree completion and to achieve a set of benchmarks in their trajectory through the program in order to receive funding.
To be competitive in the academic marketplace, graduates of our doctoral program need to have opportunities to teach a variety of undergraduate courses in the field of media, culture, and communication. Therefore, all doctoral students are encouraged to teach as adjunct instructors in the department. Typically, students in years 1 - 2 serve as teaching assistants in our core undergraduate courses. In years 3 - 5, students may serve as primary instructors. Research assignments are also available on a per semester basis. All teaching and research assignments are paid in addition to the fellowship stipend; students who teach are paid at the standard rate for adjunct instructors while students assisting faculty with research are normally paid at an hourly rate.
Research and teaching assignments are made in consultation with the students' faculty advisors and the department chair.
Fellowship and Scholarship Funding
The LeBoff Fellowship
The Phyllis and Gerald LeBoff Doctoral Fellowship is designed to train the next generation of communications professorate and funds one new student each year. The faculty designate one student to be the LeBoff fellow at the time of admission. All full-time PhD applicants to the Media, Culture, and Communication Program (MCCD) who submit a completed application for admission by the December 15 deadline are automatically considered for this funding. No scholarship application is required.
MCC Doctoral Travel Fund
The department's Doctoral Travel Fund supports conference travel. Funds will be distributed at the discretion of the director of graduate studies and the department chair in consultation with the department's doctoral committee. Students must demonstrate that they are participating in the conference beyond attendance (panel participation, paper presentation, etc.). Application