Applicants for graduate study can request financial aid on their application form but are encouraged to seek their own funding, especially for the first year, from external sources. Although the Field of Development Sociology has been able to support all of its graduate students in recent years, support for fellowships and multi-year assistantships is limited and highly competitive. Several sources of funding are potentially available at Cornell, including: university fellowships offered by area studies programs; teaching assistantships offered through the Department of Development Sociology; and research assistantships. Students usually arrange research assistantships directly with a faculty member after they arrive at Cornell. In addition, the Population and Development Program has some discretionary funds to support students from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
