A variety of fellowships and assistantships are available on a competitive basis for full-time PhD students. Assistantships generally require 20 hours of work per week. Amounts generally range between $10,000 and $18,000, with most of these awards providing for partial or full waiver of tuition. These awards are available both through the Department of Economics and through the affiliated Mercatus Center. Part-time teaching opportunities are also available for advanced PhD students.
Department-provided funding for doctoral students is contingent upon satisfactory performance in the program and continued funding is awarded under the expectation that students will be full-time students who will complete the degree in four years. Performance that interferes with satisfactory progress can lead to a revocation of an assistantship. Unsatisfactory performance is defined as:
The Economics MA Fellowship is an opportunity available to incoming on-campus students who are pursuing their MA in economics.
The department will be granting recognition awards for exceptional MA applicants. Bachelor’s Accelerated Master’s students are also eligible for these awards in their transition term to the MA program. The awards aim at distinguishing exemplary candidates. The fellowship is a one-time award, disbursed over two years (one year for Accelerated Master’s students). It has no work component and is intended to help mitigate the costs of pursuing graduate studies.
How to Apply to the Economics MA Fellowship
To be considered for a recognition award, candidates must submit a brief statement (not more than 400 words) highlighting a major achievement.
Applicants should send statements to the department at econgrad@gmu.edu as an email attachment at the time they submit their MA Economics on-campus admission application to the University.
Statements may be forwarded as Word documents or PDF files. The applicant’s name and email address (same as used in the admissions application) should be included in the document header.
Fellowship application statements will be reviewed after the MA admission decision is made. Award decisions are competitive and will be made on the basis of these statements as well as the overall strength of the MA application package.
Award announcements are expected to be made by March 31, 2023 for MA applications submitted on or before the priority fall deadline, February 15, 2023. There is no guarantee that funds will be available for MA applications submitted after the priority fall deadline. However, if funds are available, award offers may be made on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Applying for the Economics MA Fellowship does not preclude students from applying to the Mercatus MA Fellowship. However, students who accept a Mercatus MA Fellowship offer are not eligible to receive the Economics MA Fellowship award.
The James Buchanan Fellowship was last awarded in Fall 2022 and is no longer available for incoming MA Economics students. Please see information on the new Economics MA Fellowship, now accepting applications from incoming students for the Fall 2023 admission cycle.
The James Buchanan Fellowship is an opportunity for incoming full-time, on-campus students who are pursuing their MA in economics and who are interested in a career in public policy. At George Mason University, graduate students are considered full-time if they are enrolled in at least nine graduate credits per semester. This fellowship is competitively awarded based on overall application strength. The fellowship has no work component and is intended to cover tuition and fees up to nine graduate credits a semester for a total of 30 credits and provide students with a stipend. Recipients will be required to submit an annual report regarding their progress and future plans, which will be due at the end of each spring semester.
Department-provided funding for MA in economics students is contingent upon satisfactory performance in the program and continued funding is awarded under the expectation that students will be full-time graduate students who will complete the degree in two years. Performance that interferes with satisfactory progress can lead to a revocation of the fellowship. Unsatisfactory performance is defined as:
How to Apply to the James Buchanan Fellowship
Applicants to the MA in economics on-campus option who are interested in applying for the James Buchanan Fellowship should submit a 2-page essay answering the question: How will a master of arts in economics and the James Buchanan Fellowship contribute to advancing and achieving your career goals? Word documents or PDF files should clearly state the applicant’s name and email address as listed on their admission application. Essays should be emailed to econgrad@gmu.edu at the time your graduate application is submitted to George Mason. Fellowship applications will be considered during admission decisions after the MA in economics application deadline. Only incoming first-year graduate students in the on-campus option are eligible to apply.
Interested in a career at the intersection of public policy and economics? Consider applying to the Mercatus MA Fellowship. This is a two-year graduate research assistantship program for students pursing a master’s degree in economics at George Mason University who are interested in a career in policy.
Benefits include:
- Full tuition coverage and a monthly stipend to assist with living expenses
- Experience working and coauthoring with Mercatus policy scholars
- Monthly workshops and reading group discussions on timely policy topics and job skills
You do not need a background in economics. In fact, many MA Fellows have undergraduate degrees in subjects like political science, sociology, computer science, philosophy, and more.
How to Apply
Please review information on the Mercatus Center’s MA Fellowship webpage for program details and application requirements.
Last updated: 01/03/2022