Financial Support

All PhD students are offered financial support that provides full tuition and mandatory fees coverage, and a stipend for living expenses throughout their graduate studies at Caltech, provided they are enrolled full-time and making satisfactory progress toward the doctoral degree, including securing a thesis advisor and meeting program requirements. The average length of a Caltech PhD is between five and six years. Financial support can be in the form of internal or external fellowships, research assistantships, teaching assistantships, or some combination of fellowship and assistantship support. Most of the funding sources require work authorization. As a consequence, matriculation into the PhD program requires evidence of work authorization, unless special compensation can be arranged with the admitting option. A separate application for requesting financial aid is not required.

In general, the Institute does not provide financial support to master's level students; however, master's students are eligible to receive teaching and research assistantships appointed by their department. Master's students should refer to the information on financing a graduate education.

Graduate students receiving any financial support from the Institute are required to report to the Dean of Graduate Studies any external fellowships or scholarships received, or financial aid from other sources. In exceptional cases, and with prior written approval from the Dean of Graduate Studies, students may be allowed to accept outside employment of no more than one day (eight hours) a week, assuming the time commitment does not interfere with their graduate studies.

Stipends

Graduate stipends are paid monthly, on or around the 26th of each month. The PhD stipend rate for academic year 2023-24 for all divisions is $45,000, for 12 months. Stipends are considered taxable income. For more information on graduate stipends, please refer to Graduate Stipends.

Tuition and Fees

All full-time enrolled students are charged tuition and fees each term, and those students who have assistantship or fellowship support will receive a tuition credit. For the current tuition and fees rates, please see the Estimated Budget.

For additional questions or assistance related to financial aid, please contact the Graduate Studies Office.

Inquiries regarding loans should be directed to the Office of Financial Aid.