The USC Marshall School of Business provides full financial support to PhD students for five years in the form of a fellowship or assistantship. After a student has advanced to candidacy (typically in the third year), the student becomes eligible for additional research awards.
Funding Package: Fellowships & Graduate Assistantships
All applicants who apply by the deadline(s) are automatically considered for competitive funding package each year. Accepted students receive a funding package that includes a full tuition waiver, generous stipend, individual health and dental insurance, coverage of student health center fees, and mandatory university fees each year. The total financial support provided is approximately $130,000 per year, depending on a student's course-load.
Fellowship recipients are guaranteed funding through either the continuation of the fellowship or through an assistantship for five years provided they maintain satisfactory academic progress.
Outside Funding
Occasionally a student brings outside funding to replace or supplement the funding from the USC Marshall School of Business. Examples of outside funding sources include the foreign governments and the National Science Foundation program. Such funding is acceptable, but applicants should understand that funding source is not considered in the evaluation process. We accept only the top applicants regardless of the source of funding.
Research Support & Awards
Marshall Ph.D. students are provided with a discretionary account for teaching and research activities. The annual funding increases as the student progresses in the program into more research activities in the later years.
After advancing to candidacy, students become eligible for competitive research awards open exclusively to USC Marshall Ph.D. students. Past awards have been sponsored by the Ford Foundation, USC Marshall Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurship and other awards sponsored by Marshall or the USC Graduate School.