Financial Aid. We have a variety of aid packages available whose duty-free grants range up to the full cost of tuition. Moreover, we have the Helen Deutsch Fellowship in fiction and--in honor of our colleague, the late George Starbuck--the program has established a similar fellowship in his name for a graduate student in poetry. Outstanding African-American writers who are U.S. citizens may wish to apply for a Martin Luther King Fellowship, which offers full tuition and a large stipend. Those wishing to apply should contact us by February 1. More recently we have added the Leslie Epstein and the Marcia J. Trimble fellowships in fiction. The latter pays full tuition, plus a living stipend of $17,500. In addition, we offer a number of teaching fellowships, which range from half-tuition to three-quarters tuition, plus a stipend of about $8,750. These graduate fellows teach one course, English 202, an introduction to creative writing, with enrollment limited to fifteen undergraduates. Those who teach this course seem to love doing it--at least in some measure for the insight it gives them into their own writing.

Because teaching fellows do not normally take more than two courses in the semester they teach, two literature courses are put off--most often until the summer session. All applicants who indicate a need for financial assistance on the general application will be considered for the Helen Deutsch, George Starbuck, Leslie Epstein (which covers tuition, and provides a small stipend), and the Betsey Leonard Fellowships, as well as all other forms of aid, including the Marcia Trimble Fellowship. The deadline for those seeking financial assistance is March 1st, the same as for everything else. Do note that by transferring two graduate literature courses and taking two courses in our summer school, total tuition costs can be cut almost in half--though so much of value is lost that we urge this procedure only as a last resort.