Merit Awards

The Literature Department offers two of our strongest applicants fellowships that include full tuition remission and a substantial (non-taxable) stipend of approximately $10,000 for each of two years of full-time study. The competition for merit scholarships is keen.

• Factors that contribute to selection for merit awards are an outstanding undergraduate academic record, strong GRE scores—usually above 600 in the Verbal section—and other supporting evidence in the student’s application. (Please note that MFA applicants are not required to submit GRE scores for merit award consideration.) In order to be considered for a merit award, students must submit their completed application by February 1. 
• Students who receive merit awards work up to twenty hours a week as writing consultants at AU’s Writing Center and/or as teaching assistants to professors who are teaching General Education or undergraduate literature survey courses. 
• Students who receive partial merit awards may opt to be teaching assistants or writing consultants for ten hours a week at the same hourly compensation. 
• Budget permitting, we also offer a few work-study assistantships for up to ten hours a week—with the same compensation noted above—for students to serve as either teaching assistants or writing consultants. These optional hours of work provide not only further financial assistance but also valuable hands-on experience to students interested in teaching.

 

Need-Based Financial Aid

• The University also offers need-based financial aid and assistance through various federal loans. For more information, please contact Graduate Financial Aid at 202-885-6500 or facounselor@american.edu. 
• Scholarships from “outside” organizations are an additional method of financing your graduate education.
  
  Note: We strongly urge you to check any organization with the Better Business Bureau and we advise against using any organization that requires payment to do a search. For information about evaluating scholarship search companies, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s "Scholarship Scams" page.
  
  The following sampling of websites offer scholarship search assistance:
  

  Sallie Mae's Scholarship Search
  

  The College Board Scholarship Search
  

  FastWEB
  

  FinAid
  

 

Employment

• Students are encouraged to contact the university’s Human Resources Office (202-885-2591) for information about part-time and full-time employment opportunities on-campus.  The university provides eligible faculty and staff members with educational benefits including tuition remission for graduate courses taken at American University. Note: You must have completed four months of active full-time employment before the last day of late registration for any given semester in order to qualify for tuition remission benefits for that semester. The maximum benefit available is eight credits per semester. In addition, your total credits for courses taken under the program may not exceed 20 credits per academic year. For more information, please contact the university’s Human Resources Office. 

• For off-campus employment, consult the AU Career Center Job Listing Service (202-885-1800). Or consult JobCorps, sponsored by the university’s Student Government.
  

Contact Information

• For inquiries about the program, please contact Dr. Anita Sherman, Director, MA Program in Literature, at asherm@american.edu or phone: 202-885-2985.
  
  
• For administrative information and assistance, please contact the assistant to the Graduate Programs in Literature at lit@american.edu or 202-885-2973.
  
  
• For general questions about applications, visit the website for the Office of Graduate Admissions, American University