Financial Aid

With the exception of students who have received scholarship support from another institution (such as an independent funding agency or their employer), it is our policy to provide financial support to all admitted students. Aid for a student's first year typically varies between an 80% tuition waiver and a fellowship that provides a full tuition waiver plus an annual stipend of $19,000. Though attrition during the first year of the program is very low, it is still very challenging and, for that reason, we feel it is essential that students are able to devote almost all of their energies to their studies. It is for this reason that most financial aid during a student's first year comes with no duties and for those financial aid packages that do come with duties, we limit it to one semester of light grading with no teaching responsibilities. Students who are performing satisfactorily can expect to receive a Departmental Fellowship during years 2, 3, 4 and 5. This involves being a teaching or research assistant.

• Owen Fellowship - Full-tuition waiver plus an annual stipend of $19,000 in years 1-3 and $14,000 after year 3.
• T. Rowe Price Fellowship - Full-tuition waiver plus an annual stipend of $16,000 in years 1-3 and $14,000 after year 3.
• Departmental Fellowship - Full-tuition waiver plus an annual stipend of $14,000.
• Carl Christ Fellowship - In 1989, the department established the Carl Christ Fellowship fund to honor one of its faculty members for his distinguished service and achievements. The proceeds of the fund are used to support outstanding graduate students at the dissertation stage of their research.

In addition to these sources of funds, there are many other opportunities both on- and off-campus involving research or teaching. The summer program at Hopkins is taught exclusively by our graduate students. In Summer 2000, six graduate students taught. Students have also taught in nearby universities such as Loyola College, Goucher College, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. One can also find research assistantships in other Hopkins programs; for example, the School of Public Health. Many students take advantage of the proximity of Washington, D.C. to serve as research assistants at institutions related to their field of research during the academic year and/or summer. In recent years, our graduate students have been research assistants at such institutions as Brookings, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal National Mortgage Association, International Monetary Fund, Inter-Development Bank, World Bank and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.

Fourth year graduate student (August 2000): "I participated in the summer internship programs of the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank. Both offered good pay and a good introduction to the world of multilateral institutions. It is my experience that Hopkins students do very well in Washington both in the absolute and relative to our ranking. This I think is due to the fact that we are small and close to Washington, meaning that many people from these institutions come to teach here, creating strong personal links."

Hopkins Ph.D. ('00) (August 2000): "I held jobs as a research assistant at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Price and Index Number Research) and at the Federal National Mortgage Association. Both like to hire Hopkins grad students for their RA positions."

Third year graduate student (September 2000): "During the summer, I was a research assistant at the Institute for International Economics reconciling the international investment and debt statistics collected by the World Bank, BIS, and IMF, as well as running models designed to predict currency crises. It was a great experience, as I got to participate in research lunches with the fellows and visiting scholars, as well as attend special press briefings and conferences on international monetary policy, which I hope to be my area of specialty. Hopkins is unique in its proximity to the city which probably has more resident economists than anywhere in the world!"

In the 2000-01 academic year, a fourth year student, Junfu Zhang, was awarded a Brookings Fellowship which provided financial support with no duties.

Questions? Please send us an e-mail.

Do you want to apply to the program? Apply online, Download an Application Form.