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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Graduate Students

Overview of the Graduate Program in Political Science

fds Our graduate program is highly selective.  Each year our goal is to admit a small group of the most capable applicants.  With a small program, students have the opportunity to work closely with faculty members.  Indeed, many students publish articles while in graduate school, both on their own and in collaboration with faculty mentors.  The small size also contributes to a supportive and collegial environment in the graduate program, one of our great strengths.
A letter from the Director of GraduateStudies.

Financial Support

Over 90% of our students receive financial support in the form of fellowships and teaching assistantships. In addition, the department awards aid for dissertation research, conference travel and summer programs. These awards and assistantships are given according to guidelines in the Political Science Graduate Handbook manual.

The University offers support for conference travel, dissertation travel, and dissertation completion on a competitive basis. Our students have been very successful in winning these awards.

Research Opportunities

Our students maintain an active research agenda. Most publish while in graduate school, both on their own and in collaboration with faculty mentors. Use this link to view a comprehensive list of student publications since 1990.

The University of Illinois is part of the Consortium for Institutional Cooperation (the CIC), an organization composed of Big-10 universities and the University of Chicago. CIC membership allows students to participate easily in programs at other CIC institutions, including the Michigan/ICPSR summer methods program and the Indiana language programs. In addition, CIC video courses bring students into contact with faculty and students at other institutions.

Teaching Training

Uniquely, the University offers graduate students an opportunity to earn a Graduate Teacher Certificate and an Advanced Graduate Teacher Certificate. These programs help students become superior teachers by providing instruction on innovative and effective pedagogical techniques.

Placement

The department maintains a placement service to assist our students in finding their first position after receiving the Ph.D.

The Ph.D. program primarily trains future college and university professors. We have placed students at a wide range of colleges and universities, including some of the top research universities as well as prestigious teaching institutions. A few of our graduates have gone on to public service or found employment in the private sector. Use this link to view our placement record for Ph.D.'s.

Campus Resources

The Graduate College has assembled a wide array of valuable information for graduate students on admissions, financial information, registration, housing, health services and a variety of other topics. To conduct a more general search for information about campus wide policies and procedures, use the LUCI link. This search engine will locate documents across many manuals and campus units.