Fully Funded vs. Partially Funded Offers: How to Tell Which One You Have (2026)

"Fully funded" isn't a regulated term. Two offer letters can both use it and leave you in very different financial positions: one covering tuition, stipend, insurance, and fees for the whole program, the other covering tuition and a nine-month stipend for three years of a five-year degree. Most guides define the term and stop there. This one goes through the specific clauses in an offer letter that tell you which kind you actually have.

The four things a full package has to cover

• Tuition: fully covered, usually through a tuition waiver. A partial waiver or "reduced rate" isn't full coverage.
• A living stipend: enough to live on locally, paid for the whole period you're expected to be there. Our guide to PhD stipends covers how to judge whether an amount is adequate.
• Health insurance and fees: in the US especially, mandatory fees and student health insurance can add up to thousands a year. Check whether they're covered in full, in part, or not at all.
• Duration: funding for the length the program actually takes, not just its minimum length.

If any of the four is missing, the offer is partially funded, whatever the letter calls it.

Clause by clause: what to look for in the letter

"Funding is guaranteed for X years"

Compare X with how long students in the program actually take to finish, not the official minimum. If the guarantee is five years and most students take six, you need a plan for year six. Ask the department what happens to students who go beyond the guarantee, and how many do. Current students are often the most honest source.

"Contingent on satisfactory academic progress"

This is standard and generally reasonable. Illinois's Grainger College of Engineering, for example, guarantees PhD students funding for their first five years, provided they remain in good academic standing and successfully perform their assistantship duties. What matters is what "satisfactory" means in practice: a GPA threshold, passing a qualifying exam by a set point, or a supervisor's annual sign-off. Ask for the definition in writing.

A stipend quoted without saying 9 or 12 months

Many packages cover the academic year only. Duke's Psychology and Neuroscience PhD, for example, guarantees funding for five academic years plus the first two summers, assuming good standing, so later summers are funded from other sources such as a supervisor's grant or summer teaching. That's a clearly stated policy, but many offers don't say either way. If yours doesn't, ask whether the stipend figure is for 9 or 12 months, and what summer funding looks like in each year.

"Includes a tuition waiver" with nothing about fees

In the US, tuition and fees are separate charges. A waiver can cover tuition in full while leaving you with mandatory fees each term. Even well-funded programs sometimes cover only part of them. Ask for an itemized list of what you'll still be billed.

Health insurance as a "subsidy"

"Health insurance included" and "health insurance subsidy" are different things. A subsidy can cover part of the premium and leave you paying the rest, and dependants are often not covered at all. If you're bringing a partner or children, ask what their coverage would cost.

Fellowship vs. assistantship funding

In the US, both are generally taxable, but assistantship pay is treated like wages, with tax withheld and a W-2 at the end of the year, while fellowship stipends usually have no tax withheld and no W-2. You're responsible for reporting fellowship income and may need to make estimated tax payments. Two identical headline figures can leave you with different amounts in hand, and a fellowship can come with a surprise tax bill if you don't set money aside.

Questions to send the department before accepting

1. How many years is funding guaranteed, and how long do students in the program typically take to finish?
2. Is the stipend a 9-month or 12-month figure, and is summer funding guaranteed in each year?
3. Which fees will I still be billed for each term, and roughly how much?
4. Is health insurance fully covered, and what would coverage for dependants cost?
5. What are the conditions for keeping funding, and who decides whether they're met?
6. Is any part of the package a fellowship, and if so, is tax withheld?

Asking these questions is normal and won't count against you. If the answers reveal gaps, that's the moment to raise them, and our guide to negotiating a PhD funding offer covers how to do it. If you're comparing several offers, compare them on all four elements, not just the stipend figure.

Filling a gap with a professor's funding

A common way to close a gap, such as unfunded summers or a final year beyond the guarantee, is a research assistantship paid from a professor's grant. That's easier to arrange with a professor you've already been in touch with. GradScoutFunding searches professors by field and country, confirms they're actively publishing, and drafts a personalized first email grounded in one of their real recent papers, which you review and send yourself. The free tier gives 100 credits with no card required, and paid credit packs are one-time purchases that never expire.

Common questions