Funding Opportunities

Most entering graduate students are funded by a departmental assistantship, which provides a stipend and tuition waiver for the nine-month academic year. For the 2009-2010 academic year, the stipend is $13,500 for incoming and continuing students. The tuition waiver covers a portion of the tuition (approximately 82%). Students pay their own additional university fees. These assistantships require a 16-hour per week work assignment.

After the first year, most students work throughout the calendar year in paid research, clinical, or teaching placements. Opportunities to teach an undergraduate course, funded by a departmental assistantship, have been ample for post-master's students. We have a track record of funding 100% of the sudents who request funding.

Academically talented, first-generation students who are traditionally underrepresented in graduate programs, may be awarded a Diverse Student Success (DSS) Fellowship by the Graduate School. The DSS provides 9 hours tuition waiver (which pays the same percentage of tuition as a departmental assistantship), and a stipend of $12,000 per year for 3 years. For first-year students, we will supplement this waiver to provide 11-12 hours. The student is ineligible for the fellowship and supplemental waiver if receiving funding from another source.

University Graduate Fellowships (UGF) are awarded on a competitive basis. The UGF provides 9 hours tuition waiver, and a stipend of $12,000 for 1 year. There are also Dean’s Awards for Excellence, which provide 9 hours tuition waiver, and a stipend of $15,000 for 4 years for work as a TA or RA. Presidential Fellowships and Foundation Fellowships are also available, they have no work requirement and an annual stipend of $20,000 for 5 years with full tuition coverage.

Clinical Placements

The Clinical Psychology Program is fortunate to have a unique cluster of campus and community training facilities which provide student funding and facilitate the student's overall development. Although we place students in a wide array of clinical facilities throughout the Tampa Bay area, one unique resource available to our Program is the high density of clinical and research training facilities on the USF campus. For example, we have student placements at such campus facilities as the USF Counseling Center for Human Development, the University Psychiatry Center, the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and the Tampa Veterans Administration Hospital, all of which are within, or immediately next to, the USF campus. The most unique of these facilities, also on our campus, is USF’s Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI), which supports many graduate students and provides a research setting for both faculty and students. The Institute’s primary mission includes research, training, policy and program development. FMHI has several primary departments including Mental Health Law and Policy, Aging and Mental Health, and Child and Family Studies. Within each of these departments are several entities that provide opportunities for clinical and research training in various areas of clinical psychology.

Teaching Assistantships

Most first-year clinical students serve as teaching assistants, which requires them to teach small sections of a large undergraduate research methods class. Many advanced clinical students teach junior and senior level undergraduate classes on their own. To assure high quality instruction and to enhance the teaching skills of our students, the Psychology Department has implemented a series of structured training workshops. These workshops are designed to teach the skills necessary to function effectively in a classroom environment. All TA’s are also assigned a faculty supervisor, who works closely with the student throughout the semester. These training experiences, which are now required, typically result in excellent teacher ratings and give students a firm basis for future careers as instructors of Psychology.

Financial Aid

Those interested in financial aid should contact the USF Financial Aid Office in the SVC building (813-974-4700) as soon as an offer to attend the program has been accepted. For loan applications, students should try to apply by May. Using a lender in Tampa is much easier than using an out-of-state lender. Note that the lender will consider your tuition waiver part of your assets and income, so be sure to inform them of the tuition waiver amount.