The Graduate School offers doctoral students a minimum of five years of financial support upon admission, including twelve-month living support and full remission of tuition, fees and the premium for single-person coverage through the University’s student health insurance plan. As outlined in the Graduate School's external award policy, doctoral students may combine financial support awarded upon admission with external funds to increase their overall living support, reduce their teaching duties and, in many circumstances, extend their guaranteed support into a sixth year. Master’s candidates are sometimes admitted with assistantship support or awarded assistantships during their enrollment based on their academic performance and the availability of teaching or research opportunities.
“Stipend” versus “Wages”
Living support is provided in the form of fellowship stipend and wages for teaching and research assistantships. The combination of these two forms of support will vary each semester based on the financial package outlined in the student’s offer of admission and the availability of teaching appointments and grant funding in the student’s department. Students can be supported entirely by fellowship stipend, entirely by assistantship wages, or through a combination of stipend and wages. Fellowship stipend is disbursed to students on the first day of each month during the academic year and in a single payment for the summer months on June 1, whereas assistantship wages are disbursed according to the University’s bi-weekly payroll calendar during each semester-length appointment and are subject to withholding for taxes. Students should confer with departmental financial administrators to confirm the sources, amounts and timing of their support in a given semester.
Permission to Work Beyond 20 Hours per Week
In order to hold student wage appointments that total more than 20 hours per week of effort, students must receive permission from the Graduate School via a request submitted by their Director of Graduate Studies which outlines the nature of the proposed appointments and affirms that the overload will not have an adverse effect on the student’s academic standing or progress to the degree. International students are not eligible to hold wage appointments in excess of 20 hours per week due to regulations related to their visa status.