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Need-Based Aid
Need-based financial aid for students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is handled by the GRS Financial Aid Office. Click here to see their website. The GRS Financial Aid office can be reached by phone at 617-353-2696 and by email at grsaid@bu.edu.
Merit-Based Aid
The International Relations Department is proud to be able to offer each year approximately 15 half-tuition merit-based scholarships. As a component of the scholarship, each student is assigned as a Graduate Assistant to a professor in the Department who shares the student's area of interest. Students assist this professor with research and other responsibilities for roughly 10-12 hours per week (excluding exam weeks and holidays such as winter and spring break). This arrangement enables students to have the experience of working closely under the supervision of a faculty member and to have the opportunity to form a lasting relationship with that faculty member. Each semester, students receive $1600 of their award as a monthly stipend, and the rest of the scholarship amount is applied toward the student's tuition.
These scholarships are based on the application for admission. Applicants need not complete any additional paperwork, they need simply to indicate 'yes' on the application when asked if they wish to be considered for financial aid. In order to be considered for a scholarship, students do need to meet an earlier application deadline of January 15, rather than April 15, when applying for Fall Semester admission. Students applying for Spring Semester admission need to meet an application deadline of October 15, both for those wishing to be considered for aid and those who do not. Scholarships are normally awarded on an annual basis. In most cases, students in multi-year programs who receive a scholarship their first year will receive a scholarship the following year, contingent upon their academic record and their performance as a Graduate Assistant during their first year.
In order to receive merit-based aid from the department, a student must maintain a full-time course load of no less than 16 graduate credits per semester. Exception: Students in the final semester of coursework who have only three classes remaining for their degree program may receive the scholarship while taking only three classes (12 graduate credits).
At this time, we are unfortunately not able to offer any full-tuition scholarships. Additionally, because Teaching Fellow positions (often called Teaching Assistants at other universities) at Boston University are normally reserved for PhD students, we are not able to offer Teaching Fellowships to our students.
Dual-Degree Programs
Financial aid for students in our two dual-degree programs, IRJD and IR/MBA, is handled by the Law School and the Graduate School of Management, respectively. Students in these programs should contact those schools, not the IR Department, with any inquiries about financial aid, both need and merit-based.
African Studies Center
The African Studies Center at Boston University has some merit-based aid available for students who plan to complete the African Studies Certificate. Applicants interested in this possibility should contact the African Studies Center at 617-353-3673 for details.
Tuition Costs
Students normally attend full-time while completing their coursework, and pay full-time tuition accordingly. It is also possible to complete coursework as a part-time student, in which case the student pays by the class. Once students have completed all required coursework and are working only on their MA Paper, they pay only a continuing student fee, which is equivalent to the cost of a two-credit course and thus is substantially less than full-time tuition. Current tuition and fee rates can be viewed by clicking here.
External Sources for Aid
Students may wish to apply for scholarships or grants from outside sources. Click here for a list of organizations that offer financial assistance for graduate studies.
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