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Graduate Admission

Fellowships and
Financial Aid

The main source of financial assistance is teaching assistantships. The Department of Mathematics awards 10 to 20 teaching assistantships to incoming graduate students each year. The basic teaching assistantship includes a tuition waiver, health insurance, all academic fees and a stipend for 10 months. Teaching assistants receive a semester of training and then take responsibility for teaching carefully selected undergraduate classes.

The majority of students receive additional Excellence Supplements (to top off the base stipend), which may vary from $1,000 to over $5,000 per year. These supplements may be awarded at the time of admission or later in the program in recognition of excellent performance. Continuation of the supplements is always contingent upon excellent progress in the program.

There are also several special departmental and Graduate School Fellowships. The Graduate School also administers Minority Graduate Scholars Awards. They are granted to incoming students as part of the University's comprehensive educational opportunities program (see Graduate Bulletin for more details).

Many members of the faculty receive support from the National Science Foundation or other federal agencies, and many students receive additional financial support from their advisor's research grants. This may take the form of summer salary, a supplemental stipend, or a reduction in teaching requirements in order to focus on research. Summer teaching positions are not guaranteed but normally available to eligible continuing graduate students.

Continuation of financial support is contingent upon several factors including the following.

  • Students must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0.
  • Doctoral students must normally pass at least two qualifying examinations before the beginning of their second year, and the third one in May after their second year.
  • Non-native English speakers with teaching assistantships must be certified by the Department of Speech Communication and be eligible to teach before the beginning of their second year.
  • Doctoral students who have been admitted to candidacy must have an adviser by the end their fifth semester and must exhibit satisfactory progress in their research.
  • Doctoral students must pass their comprehensive examination by the end of their sixth semester.
  • Teaching assistants must fulfill their departmental obligations in a satisfactory manner.

In most cases, doctoral students are supported for no more than five years.