Funding your graduate education
Navigating the financial landscape of graduate school can be challenging. Our graduate program offers funding opportunities for prospective MS and PhD students as well as a limited number of funding opportunities for prospective MENR students. This page provides information on various funding options to help you finance your graduate experience, including fellowships, associateships, scholarships, and additional resources. Please read the “Funding an MENR degree” and “Funding an MS or PhD degree” sections below to learn more about the specific funding opportunities available within each degree program. Read about types of funding in our program and find your degree below to read about opportunities for students in that degree.
General information about financial aid options for graduate study is available here.
Graduate fellowships
Fellowships are competitive, prestigious financial awards meant to support the speedy completion of a full-time graduate degree by removing financial barriers. Fellowship competitions are organized at the university, college, and school level, each with its own eligibility requirements.
Benefits:
- Monthly stipend during the fellowship period, paid directly to the student.
- Tuition payment of the general, instructional, non-resident, learning technology, and program fees. The remaining fees that must be paid by the student each semester are usually under $300 in total.
- Funded students may enroll in the Student Health Insurance Benefits Plan and will have the premium rate subsidized at 100%, meaning you pay nothing for the premium during your funded period.
Duration: See the details for funding by degree to see the limits on fellowship funding by degree.
Eligibility: To be eligible for nomination, applicants must meet these criteria:
- Intend to enroll in the program full-time starting in autumn semester
- Have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent on another scale). Some fellowship competitions require at least a 3.5 GPA.
- Apply by the priority deadline
- Both domestic and international applicants are eligible
Timeline: Fellowship nominations are made in January, and most awards are announced by early March.
Graduate Associateships
A graduate associateship is a type of funding in which the student is employed at the university and receives a generous compensation to support the student’s path to degree completion. The most common types of associateships for ENRGP students are graduate teaching associateships (GTAs) funded by the school and graduate research associateships (GRAs) funded by a student's advisor through grants or other funding. Graduate administrative associateships (GAAs) are rarely offered within the school, but GAAs are sometimes offered by other departments around the university.
Benefits: Graduate associateships confer the same financial benefits as graduate fellowships (above). The type of graduate associateship (GTA, GRA, GAA) does not change the benefits. A standard graduate associateship is based around a 20-hour weekly commitment: associateships at a higher or lower level of work will have differences in the pay rate or amount of tuition paid by the terms of the associateship.
Eligibility:
- Only students enrolled full-time may hold a graduate associateship.
- Availability varies greatly: see the details for each degree below for more information.
For more information about graduate associateships, see here.
Other funding options
See the general information about funding and financial aid for graduate students, such as external scholarships or loans.
MS and PhD funding
All MS and PhD students meeting the eligibility requirements will be considered for multiple graduate fellowship competitions. Please keep in mind that fellowship opportunities are very limited in number, and many strong applicants are not able to receive fellowships due to the heavy competition. Students receiving at least one year of fellowship will also be guaranteed continued funding as a graduate associate for a reasonable period of time to complete the degree, which will be specified in the award letter.
Graduate associateships may be available if your faculty advisor can commit funds, such as from an external grant or internal research support funds. Some students may be hired as graduate research associates for their entire enrollment period, but many will have experience as both a GRA and GTA.
All MS and PhD students admitted to the program receive a $500 scholarship during their first semester of enrollment in the program.
MENR funding options
Most MENR students self-fund through financial aid, personal funds, or an employer sponsorship for the duration of their time in the program, but exceptional applicants may be nominated for a one-year (12 months, including summer term) graduate fellowship if they meet the fellowship eligibility criteria stated above with a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4-point scale.
Our school does not offer graduate associateships that are open for general applications, but occasional opportunities in other university units are sometimes open and could be an option for a full-time MENR student.