V. Assistantships and Fellowships

The University of Alabama offers graduate students several forms of financial aid. For further information visit the Graduate School Financial Support Page.

Graduate Assistantships

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a number of graduate assistantships to well qualified students. Assistantships come with a financial stipend paid directly to the student and significant tuition and health insurance support. They will be awarded based on the discretion of the Graduate Program Committee, using the following criteria.

Committee’s assessment of:

  • The quality of the student’s academic performance prior to admission.
  • The quality of the student’s academic performance after admission.
  • The quality of the student’s professional performance as a departmental employee (if applicable).

Awards are allocated for 10 or 20 hours per week. Students who are employed outside the Criminal Justice department will not be eligible for 20 hour/week assistantships. Students who are working outside the department are eligible for 10 hour/week assistantships if they meet the remaining criteria. All students must take a full course load (9 hours per semester) in order to be eligible for assistantships.

To be considered for an assistantship upon entering the program, the application for admission to the Graduate School should be completed mid-February prior to the Fall semester for which assistantship is sought.  A letter requesting an assistantship should also be delivered to the Graduate Director in Criminal Justice. Exceptionally well-qualified applicants are eligible for Graduate Council Fellowships. Contact the Department early in the application process for further information.

Other Funding Sources

The Division of Housing and Residential Communities offers a number of Residential Assistant and Residential Manager positions each year on either a full or part-time basis. Criminal Justice majors have held one or more of these positions each year. Applications are available from the Housing and Residential Communities web site.

The Institute for Social Science Research has a limited number of Graduate Research Assistant positions.  Skills in statistical analysis or in data management are assets. Their office is located at 306 Paul Bryant Drive East, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.

The Financial Aid Office has a limited number of federal graduate work positions (equivalent to undergraduate work study).  To apply you must have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and have been found to need financial support.

In some cases, graduate students may be able to teach undergraduate Criminal Justice courses.  Criminal Justice students are eligible to teach these courses if they have completed 18 semester hours of graduate course work. The student must be directly supervised by a CJ faculty member.

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