Some students receive financial assistance on entering the program in the form of multi-year named fellowships, multi-year teaching fellowships, research assistantships, or one-year renewal tuition stipends and fellowships. Students who enter the program without financial assistance may apply for assistance for subsequent years, and most students who do well ultimately receive at least some financial support. (Also, as students complete their course work, their tuition declines.) The Graduate Center houses several centers that provide in-house employment for students who need to work while pursuing the Ph.D. To find out more about these opportunities and to apply for financial aid through the Graduate Center, please visit the Financial Aid website.

Students in the Ph.D. Program in History are eligible for several different types of awards:

Federal and state aid, including work-study, loan programs, and New York State Tuition Assistance, is administered by the Financial Aid Office. In all cases, federal and state aid is based solely on financial need. Applications are made through the Financial Aid Office annually.

Institutional aid, including graduate teaching fellowships, graduate assistantships, MAGNET fellowships, university fellowships, and named fellowships, is awarded to students based primarily on merit, though need is taken into consideration. Entering students are automatically considered for these awards. Returning students apply through the History Program in the spring of each academic year by filling out an application.

CUNY part-time teaching positions are available for advanced students who have been recommended to the individual campuses by the History Program. Only students who have completed their first year of coursework are eligible for such assignments. Students apply for teaching positions in the spring of each academic year. In addition, advanced students are eligible to apply for multi-year appointments as CUNY Writing Fellows or Technology Fellows.

There are a variety of outside awards and assistantships available to Graduate Center Ph.D. students in history. Students have, in the recent past, worked as research assistants for the Humanities Center, the Gotham Center, the Center for the Study of Philanthropy, the LaGuardia/Wagner Archives, the American Social History Project, the Radical History Review, the Social Science Research Council, the Chicago Historical Society, the Rockefeller Foundation, and New York City-based research institutes, media firms, independent scholars and writers. There is also some work available for students in academic and support service offices on campus and in the library. The Program office maintains a folder of job and fellowship opportunities for Ph.D. students.