Tuition scholarships are offered to most doctoral candidates, for their coursework and research credits. In addition, the Visual and Cultural Studies Program awards teaching and research assistantships to all students in the Program for their first four years of study. (The current stipend is $15,000 per annum per student.)

There are also certain University fellowships for which students may be nominated. The University awards Sproull Fellowships and Provost's Fellowships on a competitive basis, for up to two years. The Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies offers small research and travel grants to graduate students working in the area of women's studies.

Students are also encouraged to apply for outside funding. Many sources of funding from outside the University are available, and Visual and Cultural Studies graduate students have been successful in receiving them. The University can also nominate students for awards and fellowships, including the Samuel H. Kress Fellowship, administered by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

A listing of possible sources is included on the professional development for graduate students page of this website. Material pertaining to additional grants and fellowships is also available in the Department of Art and Art History. Graduate students may also make appointments to meet with staff of the Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA) for assistance in locating funding.

Students can sometimes receive additional funding by teaching introductory classes in art history, film studies, studio arts, and visual and cultural studies, or by teaching summer school courses, or in the College Writing Program. There are also continuing opportunities to teach at neighboring institutions. In the past Visual and Cultural Studies students have taught classes at SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Geneseo, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Rochester Institute of Technology, Monroe Community College, and St. John Fisher College.