Film Scholarships, Fellowships and Assistantships Explained

Film programs use a handful of overlapping words — scholarship, fellowship, assistantship, award, funding — and the same word can mean very different things at different schools. A "fellowship" might be a modest one-time award at one program and a multi-year package covering tuition and a stipend at another. Before you count on any money, you need to know what it pays for, how long it lasts, whether it is guaranteed or competitive, and what conditions are attached. This guide explains the main types and shows how several official pages word them.

The main types of support

• Scholarships and fellowships are awards you do not repay. Schools use the two words loosely. What matters is the amount, the duration and whether you must reapply.
• Teaching assistantships (TAs) pay you to help teach courses: leading sections, grading, running labs. Depending on the school, they may come with a salary, a tuition waiver, or both.
• Research or graduate assistantships pay for work on faculty projects or in departmental offices.
• Production awards fund a specific film, not your tuition. They matter in production programs but do nothing for your bill.
• External scholarships come from foundations and organizations outside the school and have their own rules.

Loans are not funding in this sense: they must be repaid. Our funding overview explains how we classify each program.

Guaranteed, conditional or competitive

The most important question about any award is whether you receive it automatically or compete for it. We sort published funding into a few categories: guaranteed full funding, full funding with published conditions, competitive full funding, tuition only, partial funding, and not verified. A few examples show how official wording maps to these.

A guaranteed package with conditions

The University of Chicago's Department of Cinema and Media Studies says doctoral students who matriculated from Summer 2020 onward are guaranteed funding for the length of the program — from the university, outside sources, or both — including full tuition, an annual stipend, health insurance premiums and the student services fee. The department lists a stipend of $37,000 for students who matriculated in Autumn 2023 and states that yearly renewal depends on satisfactory academic progress. That last clause is a published condition, and the stipend figure belongs to a specific cohort year, so ask for the current amount.

Funding built from fellowships and teaching

The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Radio-Television-Film states that its PhD students are fully funded for four years through a combination of fellowships and TA appointments. For MFA students, the picture is different and more specific: admitted Screenwriting MFA students receive the UT Screenwriting Fellowship, typically for two years; the department awards several endowed scholarships to production and screenwriting MFA students; and an innovation award supports MFA pre-thesis and thesis films. The page describes teaching assistant work as guaranteed for advanced MFA and PhD students and only occasional, not guaranteed, for MA students. It does not state award amounts, which is why a guide like this cannot tell you what they cover.

Competitive and partial awards

AFI Conservatory describes a limited number of scholarships each year for incoming domestic and international students, awarded on financial need and merit, with amounts that vary and may partially cover tuition and fees. AFI says it is need-blind in admission, that first-year scholarships are renewable in the second year with satisfactory progress and good standing, and that for 2027–28 the scholarship application is by invitation only, for applicants who reach the interview round, with invitations going out as early as January 8, 2027.

Chapman University's Dodge College says it awards fellowships to a select number of students each year based on the talent shown in their application materials, with no separate fellowship application, and that applicants who meet its November 15 deadline receive preference. Most recipients hear at admission; some are notified later.

Competitive awards are not guarantees. A strong application can be admitted without one.

Assistantships in practice

An assistantship is a job as well as a form of support. Before accepting one, find out:

• how many hours per week it requires and for how many terms;
• whether it includes a tuition waiver, a salary, or both, and whether mandatory fees are also covered;
• whether it is guaranteed for the length of the degree or reassigned each year;
• what you will be teaching or doing, and whether training is provided.

Teaching assignments are common in doctoral programs, where they are often part of the training. Programs that guarantee teaching to only some students, as the UT Austin page describes, leave others to compete for the remaining positions.

Production funding is not tuition funding

Production programs sometimes advertise generous support for student films. Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts, for example, states that each student is guaranteed funding for each of their films, along with equal access to its production equipment. That is valuable, but it is support for films. It says nothing about tuition, fees or living costs, which need to be checked separately. The reverse is also true: a tuition fellowship does not pay for a thesis film. See understanding film production costs for how those budgets work.

How to apply well for funding

• Meet the earliest deadline. At Chapman, early applicants get fellowship preference; at AFI, the scholarship invitation follows the interview round. Missing an admissions deadline can mean missing funding consideration.
• Read whether you must apply separately. Some schools consider everyone automatically — UT Austin's Moody College says incoming students are considered on the basis of their admission application — while others require a separate form.
• File financial aid forms if need is part of the decision. Need-based awards usually depend on information you submit.
• Get the offer in writing. Confirm amount, duration, renewal conditions and what is not covered.
• Compare like with like. A tuition waiver at a per-credit school, a flat stipend, and a production award are different things; convert them to what they cover for the whole degree.

If guaranteed support is your priority, start with our list of fully funded film programs and the film studies PhD admissions guide, since doctoral programs are where full packages are most often published. Funding policies change every cycle, so confirm the current terms on each program's official pages before you decide.