Student Support

The Department of Urban Planning makes every effort to support its Ph.D. students through a combination of merit-based fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. About half of our admitted Ph.D. students receive merit-based funding upon admission. Once the students arrive at UCLA, many are also able to find research or teaching assistantships, although these positions are not guaranteed in advance.

For Fall 2007 two Ph.D. students were awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s and Eugene Cota Robles Fellowships. Awarded by UCLA Graduate Division, these competitive fellowships offer students full support packages for four years. Three Ph.D. students were admitted with a combination of a registration fee grant and a non-resident tuition waiver.

Some other funding opportunities available to Ph.D. students from departmental sources include the following:

  • Merit-based fellowships
    Some fellowships are available annually to continuing Urban Planning students through the generosity of private individuals, firms, or foundations. Fellowships usually range from $1,000 to $5,000 annually and include the Alumni Association Fellowship, Alumni Fund Fellowship, Associate Architecture and Urban Planning Fellowship, Harvey S. Perloff Fellowship, Mimi Perloff Fellowship, Leon Hoffman Fellowship, and Julie Roque Award for Environmental Justice.


  • Teaching assistantships/special reader positions
    Special reader positions and teaching assistantships are offered quarter by quarter. Applications are solicited toward the end of the spring quarter for the following year. Even though second-year master students are eligible to apply for these positions, preference is usually given to doctoral students. Some of our doctoral students have also competed successfully for teaching assistantship positions with the Institute of the Environment, the Chavez Center, and the Center for the Study of Women.


  • Graduate student research (GSR) positions
    Many doctoral students work with faculty as graduate research assistants. GSR appointments depend on the extramural and intramural grants secured each year by our faculty members. Interested students should contact a faculty member working in their area of interest. The Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, the North American Integration and Development Center and other research centers in the school also offer a number of GSR positions each year.


  • Nonresident tuition fellowship
    Nonresident tuition fellowships are available to some outstanding incoming Ph.D. students who are not residents of the State of California.


  • Registration fee grants
    Registration fee grants are available to some outstanding incoming Ph.D. students.


  • Support for presentations at conferences
    The department awards students selected to present their work at national conferences a modest amount of travel funds to cover part of their expenses.


  • Transportation Studies fellowships and research assistantships
    Through a program jointly funded by the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies, the California Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Department of Urban Planning offers generous fellowship support to some new and continuing MA and Ph.D. Urban Planning students who are interested in specializing in transportation policy and planning. In addition, a number of students work each year as research assistants on a variety of Institute-administered research projects. Decisions on the awards are made by the transportation faculty.


    • Additional sources of funding from UCLA include:
  • Graduate Division funding (http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/finsup.htm)
    The UCLA Graduate Division sponsors a number of university fellowships including the Chancellor’s Fellowship and the Eugene Cota Robles Award.


  • Institute of the American Cultures grants and fellowships (http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/iacweb/iachome.htm)
    Current UCLA students with a demonstrated interest in ethnic studies are eligible to apply for graduate/predoctoral fellowships to aid in completion of a thesis or dissertation. The fellowship consists of a $15,000 stipend and all in-state fees. Restrictions apply regarding acceptance of supplemental employment and/or other awards during the fellowship year. On occasion, Centers have chosen to divide the graduate fellowship between two or among three students.


  • UC Mexus Grants (http://www.ucmexus.ucr.edu)
    The University of California Institute of Mexico and the United States provides annually and on a competitive basis dissertation research grants for eligible University of California students studying critical U.S.-Mexico issues. The amount of the award for 2003 is $12,000 for two years.


  • International Institute (http://www.isop.ucla.edu/)
    The UCLA International Institute and its units provide over $1 million to support annually UCLA students through fellowships and scholarships, teaching assistantships, internships, and work-study and other types of employment. For more information, please check their website at http://www.isop.ucla.edu/funding.asp.