Financial Aid

Departmental financial aid is limited to select Ph.D. students who receive a graduate assistantship. Under the policy of the university MA students are not eligible for this type of assistance. Although there is no definitive benchmark that guarantees an assistantship offer, the applicant should be aware of the importance that GRE scores play in this process. Students with scores under 1300 are rarely made offers. We do attempt to review the entire file and take into account students with diverse backgrounds, especially international students, but our restricted availability of assistantship funding makes this a very competitive process. Students who are accepted academically to the program are not automatically awarded financial aid, but they are automatically considered unless they indicated otherwise on their application. Academic decisions for fall admissions are made on a yearly basis prior to the end January. When a student is admitted to the program, their Certificate of Admission indicates whether they continue to be considered for financial aid. Financial aid decisions are usually finalized at the end of February. Students who apply for the spring semester are not immediately considered for financial aid, however, they are eligible for the next cycle of decisions made in the following year. Fellowship decisions follow the same pattern with an even greater emphasis on GRE scores. The Graduate School coordinates this process and generally adheres to the same timetable for notifications. There is no separate application for either fellowships or assistantships, this is simply part of the regular application process.

Grants and loans are available to domestic students. This is a separate process handled by the Office of Financial Aid.