Fellowships

Fellowships are merit based awards offered to students who achieve a high level of academic excellence and allow students to focus full time on their studies. Fellowships typically include tuition, student health and dental insurance, access to the Engemann Student Health center, a stipend distributed over the course of the academic year and mandatory fees such as the Graduate Student Programming fee, Norman Topping Student Aid Fund fee, and the Student Services fee. Lab fees and parking expenses are not covered by fellowships.

All parameters of your fellowship are outlined in your offer letter. We recommend that you review your offer letter carefully and become familiar with the terms of your fellowship.

International fellowship students must complete the Immigration Status Verification (ISV) process upon arrival to USC; as well as complete GLACIER paperwork.

Domestic and international fellowship students must be enrolled full-time to receive their fellowship. Full-time enrollment is equivalent to six advisor-approved units or GSRC-800 or 794ABCDZ. We recommend that Ph.D. students register at least two weeks prior to the start of the fall semester, and before the winter recess for the spring semester.

For more information on important dates and deadlines, please visit Ph.D. Important Dates and Deadlines.

Please also visit our  New Student Information website.

Stipends should be received by the 26th of every month.  Should the 26th falls on a weekend or holiday, the payment will be available the business day prior to the 26th. Stipends are considered late after the 26th of each month. Though you may receive your stipends via direct deposit before the 26th of the month, please note that the stipend schedule does not run through Payment Services on the same day each month, so you will not always receive your stipend on the same day each month.

USC Fellowships are paid over 12 months, and the fellowship stipend schedule can be found here.  While some of the distribution dates are towards the beginning of the month, please do note that it is not considered late until after the 26th of the month.

If you have an external fellowship, your fellowship stipend will be disbursed per the guidelines of the external agency.

General tax information for students is available on the Student Financial Services website. USC staff cannot provide tax advice and we strongly advise students to contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and/or consult with a tax professional regarding taxes.

The USC Graduate School provides a general resource page.

International Students should review the OIS website.

In general, you will receive enough tuition units to cover full-time enrollment during the academic year. Please refer to your fellowship offer letter for specific details. These units are split evenly between the fall, spring and summer semesters. If you wish to exceed the number of units stated in your offer letter, please contact your academic department’s staff graduate advisor for advisement. Requests for additional tuition over the fellowship are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Graduate Academic Services Office, the Graduate School and/or your department.

Funding packages will only pay for classes that are approved by your faculty advisor and are either required or will count towards the degree.  Please note that neither fellowships nor assistantships will pay for audited classes. In addition, audited courses or courses not counted towards the degree in many scenarios will not count towards your full-time student status. This may affect your eligibility for funding as well as visa status for our international students. If you are uncertain what courses will be covered by your fellowship, please email vasephd@usc.edu.

Most fellowships do not allow a student to simultaneously serve as an RA or TA while on fellowship. If you wish to accept a RA or TA position, your fellowship may be deferred for that time period. Please review your offer letter for specific terms. Please notify the VASE Office as soon as possible so that your funding information is accurate. Fellowship deferrments for a particular semester must be approved by the first Friday of that semester.

You may not receive two comprehensive fellowships simultaneously. However, you may be able to defer one fellowship in favor of another. Please contact the Graduate Academic Services team for additional advisement.

No. Fellows are expected to devote full-time to study towards their degree and not to undertake employment or other time consuming commitments during the academic year from the end of August through mid-May.

You may accept a summer internship or a summer RA/TA position. If you are an international student and plan to work off-campus, you must apply for Curricular Practical Training (CPT).

If it is after the 26th of the month and you still haven't received your stipend, or your stipend amount is incorrect, for RA/TAs or departmental fellowships, please reach out to your department contact who set up your funding.  For students on Viterbi/Graduate school fellowships, please reach out to vasephd@usc.edu.  Please include your full name, USC ID# and amount in question. A staff member will work with you to resolve the issue. As a reminder, students must be enrolled full-time (six advisor-approved units for credit towards the PhD program, or GSRC-800 or 794ABCDZ) by the recommended registration deadline in order for stipends to disburse on time.

New international fellows must submit GLACIER paperwork by the recommended deadline for processing by the University in order to be paid on time.

Continuing international students must update GLACIER paperwork if there is a change in status, such as changing from fellowship to an RA/TA.

Please work with your academic department administrator to complete your hiring paperwork. If you have remaining semesters of fellowship, please notify the VASE Office to defer your fellowship.

International students will need to update GLACIER paperwork to reflect the change in status working as a graduate assistant and receiving wages. If your fellowship also pays a top-off stipend while on RA/TA, please be sure that GLACIER indicates a fellowship stipend as well as wages, or your top-off stipend will not disburse.

Please also note that fellowships and RA/TAships are paid on different payment cycles at the university.  The fellowship stipend calendar can be found here.  The RA/TA payroll calendar can be found here.

Please review this printable chart for additional information on several external fellowships held by our current PhD students. Many external fellowships receive an additional top-off stipend from the USC Graduate School. Please contact the Academic Services team at vasephd@usc.edu with any questions.

Research Assistantships are funded by external or internal USC accounts tied to USC faculty, who work closely with their students to provide important research and work in the field.  As a Research Assistant, you may be required to complete a Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training before you can begin your assignment.  Research deliverables are set by your faculty advisor(s) at the beginning of every semester.

Teaching Assistantships offer Viterbi Doctoral Students the opportunity to develop important skills and experience in teaching, grading, and mentorship as you work with Viterbi faculty and students.

To ensure a successful TA experience right from the start, all new TAs must attend a training program as well as complete mandatory FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) Workday training. In addition to online resources for new TAs, we offer a one-day training program at the beginning of each semester. It is the responsibility of the TA Coordinator or Graduate Advisor to register new TAs for this program. The training will consist of a day-long session at the Viterbi School of Engineering. You must attend the entire session before you will be allowed to begin your duties in the classroom. Lunch will be provided.

Next TA Training:

Date: August

Time: 9am-12pm

Location: TBA