Financial Support

Graduate financial support

All qualified, incoming graduate students are fully supported by Indiana University fellowships and/or instructorships. Stipends vary from year to year. In 2023-24, we expect to award five-year funding packages consisting of a first-year Max Kade fellowship of $24,000 from the Institute of German Studies, and an Associate Instructorship of at least $22,000 in years two through five. These awards also include tuition and fee remissions, as well as health insurance.

There is no separate application for financial support; applicants to the Department of Germanic Studies are automatically considered for a funding package. (Note: students who apply only to the M.A. program will not be considered for a Max Kade fellowship. Students in the terminal M.A. program are eligible only for an instructorship. Therefore, we encourage students who intend to continue to the Ph.D. to apply directly to the Ph.D., rather than the M.A.)

Beyond the fifth year, graduate students making good progress toward the Ph.D. have competitive opportunities for funding such as dissertation year fellowships, fellowships to study in Germany, and additional teaching assignments. The large majority of our graduate students continue to receive funding until the Ph.D. is awarded (as long as adequate progress is made).

Associate instructorships (AI positions)

At Indiana University, teaching assistants are termed Associate Instructors (AIs), reflecting the fact that they enjoy certain faculty privileges. Our department generally has about 20 full positions, nearly all of which are held by graduate students in Germanic Studies.

Rigorous apprenticeship

Associate Instructor experience is considered an integral part of graduate education. One year of teaching is required for the Ph.D., even for candidates not in need of financial support.

New AIs (typically second-year graduate students) participate in a week of pre-training conducted by our language coordinator prior to the fall semester. In-service training follows, ordinarily with the beginning undergraduate German language-skills course sequence, G100-G250. With the acquisition of classroom experience and the completion of G500 (College German Teaching), AIs may be assigned to more advanced language skills courses. AI internships with faculty members in undergraduate literature, film, and culture courses are possible for experienced doctoral students.

Associate instructors (AIs) enroll in an average of nine hours per semester. Courses should contribute to a coherent academic program, and at least six hours each semester are normally taken in Germanic Studies.

Most AIs teach in multiple-section courses of first- and second-year German. Syllabi, staff meetings, handouts, and tests are organized by the course chair. In these courses, the standard teaching load is three sections per year. AIs normally prepare just one course per semester. More advanced AIs may teach two  sections of third-year German per year, or may serve as course chair. Other assignments are also possible.

AIs are likely to teach between 18 and 23 students per class.

A standard AI appointment carries a stipend ($22,000 in 2022-23) and tuition/fee remission for a maximum of 12 credit hours per semester. If a student receives a fee remission for both semesters of an academic year, a fee remission for the following summer sessions is also provided for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

Fellows and AIs are full-time graduate students. Continuing degree candidates in Germanic Studies can expect reappointment as AIs if their progress towards the degree and their performance as instructors (if they are former AIs) are judged by the department to be satisfactory.

We also offer additional support in the form of summer teaching appointments. Among these positions are two AI-ships regularly given for the department’s intermediate-level undergraduate summer program in Graz, Austria, which are awarded by application.