Funding Opportunities

The University has made significant investments in graduate education to ensure grad students thrive, providing a variety of funding opportunities to support their academic journey. 

Assistantships and fellowships are competitive funding opportunities. Both options offer a chance to begin your professional experience while still prioritizing your education. 

Find the assistantship and fellowship application forms on our Forms page. 

Â鶹AV Doctoral Scholars attending a conference in November 2023

 

Funding Opportunities

Graduate Assistantships 

Â鶹AV awards hundreds of assistantships every year to students admitted to our master’s and doctoral programs. Assistantships—including teaching, research, and administrative assistantships—provide competitive stipends and tuition/fee waivers in exchange for up to 20 hours of work per week in the classroom, research labs, or offices on campus. 

Learn more about graduate assistantships
Â鶹AV student examining specimens

Graduate Fellowships 

Â鶹AV offers several competitive fellowships that are awarded on academic merit. Fellowships tend to be the most prestigious form of financial assistance available to graduate students. At Â鶹AV, they typically include a tuition waiver, stipend, and some portion of time that is non-service in nature. 

 

Learn more about graduate fellowships
Â鶹AV nursing student with instructor

Teacher Tuition Incentive Program 

An initiative of longtime President Ray P. Authement, the Â鶹AV Teacher Tuition Incentive Program assists currently employed K-12 teachers and administrators pursuing graduate studies by providing tuition scholarships to support part-time enrollment. 

Learn more about the Teacher Tuition Incentive Program
Â鶹AV Building View

McNair Master's Scholar Program 

In addition to waiving the application fee, the Graduate School offers tuition and fee waivers on a competitive basis to promising Master’s students who, as an undergraduate student, were participants of the . 

 

Learn more about support for former McNair scholars
Â鶹AV Quad at sunset

Robert Elliot May Graduate Resident Tuition Fellowships

This program provides resident (in-state) tuition to new non-resident (out-of-state and international) graduate students. To be eligible, you must be a new student admitted to a  master's or doctoral program in regular admission status. 

Learn more about this fellowship
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GSO & SGA Funding

The Graduate Student Organization and the Student Government Association at Â鶹AV both offer grad students funding to support research and travel.  

Two 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ students sitting outside and talking

Financial Aid

Grad students often turn to financial aid and loans to help pay for graduate study. Contact the Office of Student Financial Aid at Â鶹AV for help with your federal loan application.