Security Studies Ph.D.

Funding

The School of Politics, Security and International Affairs makes funding offers to most students admitted to the program. Usually these are GTA positions that are guaranteed for three years, conditional on satisfactory academic progress and work performance.  Depending on budgetary constraints, students who are making good progress may be funded in their fourth year.  We nominate our best applicants for UCF’s university fellowships.  The Presidential and Trustees Fellowships fund students for four years of study; other fellowships may be shorter but will be combined with department GTA positions to support deserving students for at least 3 years of study.  We encourage applicants to apply for outside fellowships that they may also be eligible for.

Fellowships

The fellowships listed below require students to be nominated by their graduate program or college in order to be considered for the award. SPSIA can nominate one applicant per admissions cycle for the Trustees or Presidential Doctoral Fellowship and two applicants for the Graduate Dean’s Fellowship. The admissions committee decides which applicants receive these nominations.  The Summer Mentorship Fellowship is an applicant-initiated award that requires a student to identify a faculty nominator to support their application. The applicant would then need to commit to starting at UCF during the summer term and registering in research hours with their faculty nominator/advisor.

Trustees Doctoral Fellowship

UCF offers the Trustees Doctoral Fellowship to superior graduate students who are newly enrolling at UCF in one of its eligible doctoral programs. These awards provide multi-year support to the most qualified applicants to the institution. All new students entering standard research doctoral degrees as full-time students are eligible to be nominated by their program for this award. Awardees will receive a stipend of $25,000 per year for up to four years. UCF College of Graduate Studies pays the standard tuition for your required course hours during each year of the award. This does not include the payment of local fees (health fee, athletic fee, building fee, etc.) A UCF Student Health Insurance Policy will be provided for your individual coverage for the duration of the award. Stipend payments will begin in the Fall semester.

Fellowship Obligations:

• Maintain good academic standing and acceptable progress to degree.
• Participate in UCF graduate fellowship community activities.
• Maintain full-time enrollment in a doctoral program (9 credit hours are required during the fall and spring terms). Summer enrollment is optional; fellowship recipients receive tuition support for 6 credit hours during the summer terms but do not receive a stipend.

Presidential Doctoral Fellowship

UCF offers the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship to superior graduate students who are newly enrolling at UCF in one of its eligible doctoral programs. These awards provide multi-year support to the most qualified applicants to the institution. All new students who are U.S. Citizens or permanent residents entering standard research doctoral degrees as full-time students are eligible to be nominated by their program for this award. Awardees will receive a stipend of $20,000 per year for up to four years. UCF College of Graduate Studies pays the standard tuition for your required course hours during each year of the award. This does not include the payment of local fees (health fee, athletic fee, building fee, etc.) A UCF Student Health Insurance Policy will be provided for your individual coverage for the duration of the award. Stipend payments will begin in the Fall semester.

Fellowship Obligations:

• Maintain good academic standing and acceptable progress to degree.
• Participate in UCF graduate fellowship community activities.
• Maintain full-time enrollment in a doctoral program (9 credit hours are required during the fall and spring terms). Summer enrollment is optional; fellowship recipients receive tuition support for 6 credit hours during the summer terms but do not receive a stipend.

Graduate Dean’s Fellowship

UCF offers the Graduate Dean’s Fellowship to superior graduate students who are newly enrolling in one of UCF’s eligible graduate programs. This award supplements a qualifying assistantship or external fellowship for one year. Every fall admissions cycle the SPSIA is able to nominate one promising new applicant for this award. Student’s being nominated for this award will also be offered a GTA position with SPSIA. This fellowship, if awarded, provides an additional $5,000  for one year ($2,500 Fall, $2,500 Spring). This will be in addition to the stipend and benefits received as part of the GTA position.

Criteria for Fellowship Selection:

• Submission of a completed admission application and all test scores (including TOEFL for international students) by January 15 or earlier if required by your prospective program.
• Admission to an eligible UCF master’s or doctoral program for the Summer of Fall 2025 term.
• Qualifications that meet or exceed the average top 25 percent for the entering class based on data for the last four years.
• Requires standard assistantship stipend (20 hours/week) and accompanying tuition remission (waiver or payment) paid for by the graduate program or its faculty for all terms of the fellowship award.

Summer Mentorship Fellowship

Qualified incoming students that are interested in doing research with a faculty mentor are encouraged to reach out to that faculty member or their graduate program director to request a nomination for the Summer Mentoring Fellowship. A nomination from the program is required after the student and faculty member have agreed upon a summer research project. If awarded, the student will receive a $4,500 stipend during the summer term. UCF College of Graduate Studies pays the standard tuition for your required research hours (6 credit hours) during the summer term. This does not include the payment of local fees (health fee, athletic fee, building fee, etc.). A UCF Student Health Insurance Policy will be provided for your individual coverage for the duration of the award.

Eligibility:

• Available to incoming graduate students who have been accepted to an eligible graduate degree program for the Summer or Fall 2025 semester. Fall admits who participate in the program will have their admission term changed to Summer.
• U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.
• Must have earned bachelor’s degree before start of the summer term.
• Application deadline is March 15

Fellowship Requirements:

• Complete Summer Mentoring Research Agreement with a faculty mentor and adhere to the research agreement (May through early August).
• Perform research related activities for 20 hours per week during the full summer term.
• Maintain enrollment in 6 graduate credit hours of Directed Research or Independent Study.
• Participate in a series of graduate workshops.
• Give a final research presentation in person at the end of the summer term.
• Maintain satisfactory academic standing and acceptable progress to degree.

Assistantships

The Security Studies PhD program offers funding to its most qualified applicants in the form of a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Assistantship. We do our best to offer funding to all those offered admission. If you require funding and were not offered funding with admission, you will be placed on a waiting list and notified of your place on that waitlist. We advise admitted students to make sure they have secured internal or external funding before committing to join the program. In exchange for up to 20 hours a week of GTA work assisting faculty members with their undergraduate courses, you will receive a tuition waiver, non-residency waiver, health insurance, and a stipend of $22,000 a year (Fall $8,500, Spring $8,500, Summer $5,000). Student fees are the responsibility of the student and average around $1,000 during fall and spring semesters and $600 during the summer semesters. This funding, if offered with admission, is awarded for three years / 9 semesters (fall 1, spring 1, summer 1, fall 2, spring 2, summer 2, fall 3, spring 3, summer 3) assuming satisfactory academic progress and good academic standing. Funding beyond the third year is competitive and subject to availability.