As is the norm with top economic departments in the US and worldwide, students entering the PhD Economics programme at LSE are typically offered five years financial support. Each year the Department of Economics typically admits around 20 students with funding from a variety of sources. The likely routes available to acquiring funding for 2025 entry to the MRes/PhD Economics are as follows:
Each academic department at LSE is allocated a number of LSE PhD Scholarships. These School-administered LSE PhD Studentships cover fees and living expenses each year for four years (during the 2024 entry cycle the stipend amount was £21,237 which the Department then topped up to an annual stipend of £26,087 for five years). In return, recipients of the award are expected to teach in the Department from the second year of the MRes. These Studentships are available for Home UK/EU and Overseas students undertaking full time research in any LSE discipline, with annual renewal subject to satisfactory academic performance at the School. Studentships will be awarded on academic merit and research potential.
The Department is allocated a limited number of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 4-year scholarships (including research masters linked to a PhD programme). ESRC awards cover fees (for International students, LSE will cover the difference between UK and overseas fees) and a stipend – in 2024 a stipend of approximately £21,237 was awarded. Additionally, in 2024 the Department also offered ESRC awardees an optional guaranteed class teaching contract for teaching from the second year of the MRes (subject to satisfactory progress in teaching performance) thus topping up the stipend to £26,087 and increasing the award to five years.
The Department also has a number of scholarship packages for its MRes/PhD Economics students which it can deploy flexibly, either as full scholarships, or as partial scholarships. In 2024 these covered tuition fees and a stipend of £26,087 for five years. In return, students were expected to teach in the Department over four years starting from the second year of the MRes.
As a matter of normal procedure, all applicants who are offered a place on our PhD Economics programme would be considered for all types of funding at our disposal and for which they are eligible, on the basis of the information submitted in their LSE application– there is no separate funding application process.
As competition for places is very high and competition for funding is even more intense, we will not always be able to provide funding to all offer holders. Accordingly, applicants are advised to actively explore all potential sources of funding. The School's Financial Support Office webpage has information on sources of funds for prospective graduate students. You should refer to the Graduate Study pages for details of fees and a guide to the cost of living in London.