The Department endeavors to maintain funding for all graduate students admitted with an offer of a fellowship or assistantship, although the length of time of this commitment is limited. The total time period of this support depends on the previous degree(s) earned and the degree sought.

• entering M.S. student: 2 years
• entering Ph.D. student with a M.S. degree: 4 years
• entering Ph.D. student with a Bachelor’s degree: 5 years

Support can be through fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships or any combination thereof.

The Graduate School maintains an online Financial Assistance Handbook that is available for all students and outlines the many forms of assistance available to current graduate students. The Graduate Committee nominates incoming students for many of the available awards (e.g. Graduate Council Fellowships, NAA License Tag Graduate Fellowship, McNair Graduate Fellowships) while the Awards Committee nominates current students for other available awards (e.g. Research and Creative Activity Graduate Council Fellowships). The Department Chair awards Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs). The priorities for awarding GTAs are as follows:

• Staffing laboratory sections that require special skills or knowledge
• Current students in good standing
• Incoming students (faculty status and equity among faculty influences priority among this pool of students)
• Current students that have exceeded their specific total period of support