Fully Funded PhD Programs in Archaeology

Nov 23, 2023
A female archaeologist wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat carefully excavates an antique ceramic object at an archaeological site.
Washington University in St. Louis offers a fully funded PhD in Art History and Archaeology. The program is open to students with a BA or MA degree in art history or a closely related field.

As part of our series How to Fully Fund Your PhD, here is a list of US universities offering fully funded PhD programs in archaeology. Archaeology is often considered a subfield of anthropology but is also commonly associated with art history, classics, and other disciplines. Archaeologists unearth and interpret the material culture of past societies to reconstruct how people lived in the past. Archaeologists often find employment in academia, government, cultural heritage management, and NGOs.

“Full funding” is a financial aid package for full-time students that includes full tuition remission and an annual stipend or salary during the entire program, usually 3-6 years. To receive this funding, students will typically teach or complete a research project in their chosen subject. Considering fully funded programs is essential because not all universities grant funding to their doctoral students. By including smaller and lesser-known schools in your research, you optimize your chances of finding the perfect fully funded program for you.

This list includes programs in anthropological archaeology, archaeology and art history, and archaeology and classics. If one of these programs catches your eye, be sure to bookmark it to your free ProFellow account!

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Brandeis University Fully Funded PhD in Anthropological Archaeology

Brandeis University, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, offers a fully funded PhD program in Anthropological Archaeology. The program allows graduate students to specialize in either sociocultural anthropology or anthropological archaeology. The focus of the Anthropological Archaeology track is on the development of complex societies, with an emphasis on Mesoamerica. Funding for the program includes a competitive fellowship, a full-tuition scholarship, and health insurance benefits for a period of five years.

Rice University Fully Funded PhD in Archaeology

Rice University, located in Houston, Texas, provides a fully funded PhD program in Archaeology. The doctoral program offered by the Department of Anthropology provides advanced training in social/cultural anthropology and archaeology. The archaeology faculty is looking for students who have research interests that complement their own. The faculty is actively engaged in research in several fields such as the emergence of complex societies and urbanism, settlement studies, origins of food production, the Late Stone Age and Iron Age in Africa, and historical archaeology. All students who are admitted to the graduate program are fully funded for five years, subject to good standing. The funding package includes tuition remission, a partial health insurance subsidy, and a stipend for living expenses.

University of Maryland Fully Funded PhD in Art History and Archaeology

The University of Maryland, located in College Park, Maryland, provides a fully funded PhD program in Art History and Archaeology. This program enables students to conduct advanced research in the discipline, gain expertise in undergraduate teaching, and establish connections with a wide range of professionals in the field. The Department of Art History and Archaeology awards teaching assistantships, graduate assistantships, and fellowships to support full-time PhD students. Additionally, the Graduate School offers summer research fellowships and summer internship fellowships in collaboration with the Department of Art History and Archaeology.

Harvard University Fully Funded PhD in Archaeology

Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers a fully funded Ph.D. program in Archaeology. This program provides students with comprehensive training in the principal methods and theories of anthropologically oriented archaeology while examining core issues in the field in an informed and critical manner. All students admitted to the program receive full funding for five years, which includes four years of summer research funding. Typically, the first two years of graduate study are fully covered, including tuition, health insurance, and a stipend. During the third and fourth years, tuition and health insurance are covered, and students receive their stipend through teaching fellowships.

University of Missouri Fully Funded PhD in Archaeology

The University of Missouri, located in Columbia, Missouri, provides a fully funded PhD program in Archaeology. The program is focused on studying the material culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Its primary objective is to prepare students for academic careers in Archaeology and related fields at the university level. Funding packages for the PhD program typically include teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships from departmental, school, or university sources.

University of Pennsylvania Fully Funded PhD in Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

The University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers a fully funded PhD program in Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (AAMW). This program aims to prepare students for careers in the art and archaeology of Classical and Near Eastern Civilizations. AAMW utilizes the abundant resources of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, providing students with hands-on fieldwork, museum internships, and university instruction. All students accepted into the program receive full funding for at least five years.

Brown University Fully Funded PhD in Archaeology and the Ancient World

Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island, offers a fully funded PhD program in Archaeology and the Ancient World. Students in this program receive a comprehensive introduction to the archaeology and art of the ancient Mediterranean, Egypt, and the Near East. This enables them to develop specialized research interests focused on one or more of these complex cultures. All students who are accepted into this doctoral program are guaranteed six years of funding. This covers tuition and stipend support for academic years as well as summers, along with health and dental insurance.

UCLA Fully Funded PhD in Archaeology

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) offers a fully funded PhD program in Archaeology. The UCLA Interdepartmental Archaeology Graduate Program (AP) provides interdisciplinary research training to graduate students. The program integrates archaeological faculty from various departments of the university, providing an integrated curriculum of multiple disciplines. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology offers financial support in the form of fellowships, TAships, and GSRships to students who are admitted to the PhD program in Archaeology. The funding package includes an initial year of fees and stipend, at least two years of TAships at UCLA, additional years of fellowship by application, and a minimum stipend of $30,000 for any support on campus.

Washington University in Saint Louis Fully Funded PhD in Art History and Archaeology

Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, offers a fully funded PhD program in Art History and Archaeology. The program is open to students who have earned a BA or MA degree in art history or a closely related field. The Department of Art History and Archaeology guarantees six years of full funding to students who remain in good standing, with an annual stipend of $34,000 and full tuition remission. Additionally, advanced PhD students may have the opportunity to teach summer courses through University College and gain valuable teaching experience.

Columbia University Fully Funded PhD in Art History and Archaeology

Columbia University, located in New York City, provides a fully funded PhD program in Art History and Archaeology. The program offers a diverse range of fields to choose from, including Ancient West Asian (Near Eastern) art and archaeology, as well as contemporary art and critical theory. The program accepts around fifteen students each year, and all admitted students receive full funding, covering their tuition and stipend. The standard fellowships last for five years and require teaching or other department service for at least three of those years.

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