Financial Support
Application forms for admission to the MS and Ph.D. programs are also regarded as application forms for assistantships. All students admitted to the program are considered for these awards. Applications must be received by March 1 to be considered for support for the ensuing academic year. Recipients of awards are notified by letter as soon as the awards are made.
Most students receive teaching assistantships their first year and serve as research assistants in their second year. Teaching assistantships are awarded by the department, and include a stipend plus tuition and basic computing fees. For MS students, an assistantship beginning in fall 2005 carries the estimated 9-month stipend will be $9250. Doctoral students with assistantships beginning in fall 2005 will receive an estimated stipend of about $10,800. Duties associated with the appointment are expected to total not more than twenty hours per week.
Research assistantships, usually associated with a specific externally-funded research grant or contract, are awarded by the professor supervising the research activity, in consultation with the IA graduate committee. The appointment is usually for the academic year, but may include the summer term, as well. These awards include a stipend and tuition, with stipend levels set at the same level as teaching assistantships. Department faculty have been very successful in securing such research support. Nearly 90 percent of those completing the program have received at least partial support in this way; nearly 70 percent were fully supported by sponsored research during their second year.
The IA program views assistantships as a means of attracting qualified and motivated students, and supporting them during their graduate studies. Currently all full-time graduate students are receiving some type of assistantship, a pattern that has held for the past several years. While we cannot guarantee future arrangements, we make a significant effort to help find financial support for successful graduate students.
Additional information about financial assistance is available from the graduate school at http://www.gradschool.mtu.edu/financial.html.
