The department of Human Centered Design strives to fund all of its PhD students through Teaching Assistantships (TAs) and Research Assistantships (RAs). Students enrolled in full-time study (10 credits/quarter) are eligible for funding. Benefits for TAs and RAs include a tuition waiver and a monthly stipend. HCDE students are guaranteed 12 quarters of funding (excluding summers), but often are funded by the department throughout their entire program. For information on UW benefits, consult the UW Graduate School’s Fellowships, Assistantships and Awards site.
Funding Guarantee Details
HCDE's current minimum funding guarantee is 12 quarters of employment-based funding to be used during the academic year (autumn, winter, and spring quarters), consisting of two rotation quarters of research assistantships, in which admitted students work on research with two different faculty members in the department, and ten quarters of teaching assistantships.
Funding guarantee prior to 2022
Students who matriculated prior to autumn 2022 were guaranteed four years of funding (regardless of source), extended by a year due to COVID-19. For these students, the remaining years of guarantee were converted to guaranteed department-funded quarters effective in autumn 2022. For example, a student starting their fifth year had the remaining year of their funding guarantee converted to three quarters.
Additional Resources
Also investigate the following for financial assistance:
- FAFSA: the Free Application for Student Aid
- UW Financial Aid
- The National GEM Consortium: Funding provided for PhD students only
- Grad School fellowships: fellowship resources through the UW Graduate School