Purdue University College of Liberal Arts
Information for
Financial Aid
Most graduate students in the English Department hold a teaching assistantship or a fellowship.
Teaching assistantships currently pay about $12,310 per year in addition to a waiver of tuition and health insurance. Tuition for summer courses taken between teaching semesters is likewise waived.
Eligibility for a teaching assistantship is determined by the Director of Freshman Composition. International students must submit an official TOEFL iBT score (sent directly from the testing center). The minimum internet based scores required for admission are the following:
Writing: 18
Speaking: 27
Listening: 14
Reading: 19
Total score: 77
Only those with a speaking score of 27 or more can be considered for a teaching assistantship.
The English Department also accepts the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores. An overall band score of 6.5 is required for admission. A score of 7 in the speaking section is required if you wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship in the English Department.
If you wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship, we encourage you to include, either in your statement of purpose or among your letters of recommendation (or in both), an indication of your experience and/or interest in teaching. The deadline for applications for teaching assistantships for the 2009-2010 academic year is January 15, 2009.
Graduate Students who receive Teaching Assistantships are closely supervised in their first year by members of the faculty. Nonetheless, first-year Teaching Assistants have full responsibility for teaching two classes of English 106 (one in the fall and one in the spring) with approximately 20 students each.
If you wish to be considered for a university fellowship, you are encouraged to apply by the end of December. The Graduate School has a few highly competitive fellowships to offer new students.