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[wildcat02]

Hi All,

For a while now I've planned on doing a PhD in the humanities, but only recently have I considered doing one in the UK. Does anyone know what sort of funding universities offer in the humanities in the UK?

In the US I've typically seen free tuition with a $15,000-$18,000 stipend; does something like this exist in the UK, even for American students?

Additionally, if I'm an American applying to programs in the UK, where do I even begin to learn about the application process?

I appreciate any advice you can offer!

[philoctetes]

In the UK you usually have to have your funding in hand. This doesn't mean that for brilliant cases there isn't funding, but it is not like the US or Canada where if you get in you are funded. 

Of the people I know who went to the UK, half already had a government fellowship that paid for them; the other half went ready to pay out of pocket, but most of them found funding after enrolling, most but not all.

Frankly I would not touch the UK without external funding. Everything costs twice as much, except rent, which is four times as much.

[sueenglish]

Hi

The funding Council for humanities is the AHRC:

www.ahrc.ac.uk

However, you need to have a residency connection to the UK to apply if you are not a UK citizen.

The AHRC pay for fees and give you a maintenance grant.

Other routes are individual university PhD scholarships. Perhaps check out

www.jobs.ac.uk to see what is going. Alternatively, if you're considering Oxbridge, many of the colleges have funding.

Best of luck

[baoloa]

The British Council is a great place to find information.  http://www.britishcouncil.org/

They also aggregate information about funding from different sources.

[donny70]

I just want to accentuate sueenglish's point. Really You should also check the individual universities that you are interested in. Many universities in Britain themselves provide funding a couple of PhD studentships each year and these are usually open to non-natives. These can sometimes take the form of teaching fellowships and sometimes simply full-funding scholarships. Normally they will involve fee waivers also. The website jobs.ac.uk is indeed a good place to look out for them. I know a couple of people who successfully took this path to a UK PhD.

[porcupine]

I second the suggestion to check out universities/department funding. The AHRC funding is very competitive, and you shouldn't bank on this even if you're eligible and brilliant to boot.

I know there certainly used to be some funding specifically for overseas students in addition to individual university/department scholarships, as an American student at my former institution got a grant - it paid his tuition and about $6000 living expenses per year (he had to find the rest himself). Again, perhaps this is something you can ask graduate admissions directors about if you can't find online information. Look for something like 'Overseas Research Studentships'.

I don't think you would be able to get a visa for the UK without evidence of sufficient funds to cover your living expenses (assuming you need a visa, of course).