Financial Support

There are many options for financial assistance for graduate students at the University of Michigan. However, not all students entering the Program in Survey Methodology will obtain financial support. There are two basic types of assistance: employment and fellowships. The Program will offer the most qualified admitted PhD students four to five years of PhD support. Masters students may also be offered support, to the extent that funds are available, but will not receive full funding from the program. Prospective students should also examine other University sites to learn more about assistance through the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the University Work-Study program, and the University Office of Financial Aid.

Employment assistance can range from temporary hourly employment without fringe benefits to Graduate Student Research Assistantships (for PhD students) which pay tuition and health care coverage. The following are examples of the kinds of employment opportunities that may be available:

• Work study positions.
• Hourly employment at the Institute for Social Research offered through the Program.
• Hourly employment through private survey research firms in the Ann Arbor area offered through the Program.
• Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) appointments in the Program or other departments on campus.
• Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) appointments working on a research project offered through the Program.

Fellowship assistance is limited and awarded competitively. The following is a partial list of fellowship assistance. Several fellowships require application by or through the Program, and admitted students may be asked if they would like to enter competition for such fellowships. Most fellowships, however, are student initiated.

• Rackham Merit Fellowships available for PhD students from under-represented minorities.
• Institute for Social Research fellowships, including the Angus Campbell Fellowship and the Innovation in Social Research Fellowship.
• Rackham Fellowships for dissertation research support.
• Other fellowships announced through the Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

PhD support packages will be extended to the most highly-qualified admitted PhD students. These packages will offer research assistantship, graduate student instructorship, and fellowship support that will cover four and one-half years of PhD study. The support typically includes half time stipends for the period September through April each academic year, tuition for two terms each year, and GradCare coverage for the entire academic year. Support components will usually involve four or five terms as a GSRA, two or three terms as a GSI, and one or two terms of fellowship support. The specific components will depend on student qualifications and the availability of funding.

Michigan Program in Survey Methodology Traineeship Opportunities are available for two MS applicants submitting applications by the annual deadline for application to the program. The traineeships are with the Survey Research Operations (SRO)* unit in the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

* Survey Research Operations (SRO) is the main data collection unit within the Survey Research Center (SRC). SRO constitutes over half of SRC, and provides a wide range of survey design, data collection and data processing services. SRO staff members work closely with members of the Survey Methodology Program and incorporate cutting-edge methodology and technical systems into their projects. SRO conducts national surveys as well as small-scale, regional, and methodological surveys.