Financial support in the form of Fellowships, Teaching Assistantships, and Research Assistantships is awarded on a competitive basis. All applicants to the program will automatically be considered for each of these types of awards. Awards are renewable for students making satisfactory progress in their degree programs. In a typical year, 20-30 of these awards are given to new students entering any graduate program in mathematics.
Graduate Teaching Assistants:
Most students are supported as Teaching Assistants. These half-time teaching positions include a remission of all tuition and the opportunity for health insurance coverage. The TA stipend for the 2016-2017 academic year ranged from $12,850 to $16,595 depending on the degree program and progress toward the degree.
Research/Project Assistantships:
Some faculty members have support for research assistants or project assistants as part of their research funding. These positions pay a semester, academic year, or full-year stipend, have remission of tuition and offer health insurance. The duties of the positions are determined by the faculty members. These faculty select who they want for their positions from among current students and admitted applicants. There is no application for these positions.
Graduate School Fellowship:
Outstanding applicants may apply for a Graduate School Fellowship. This fellowship pays a 9-month stipend, remits all tuition, offers health insurance and does not require any teaching during the year. This fellowship is not renewable. The deadline for application is January 15 each year. General GRE scores are required.
Advanced Opportunity Program (AOP) Fellowships:
These fellowships are available to qualified new and continuing graduate students who are members of groups underrepresented in graduate study or who are otherwise disadvantaged minority applicants. More information is available at the program website. Application deadline is typically January 15 each year.
For more details on these forms of financial aid, see the Graduate School Funding page.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences also considers students for these awards:
Chancellor Graduate Student Award:
Applicants with excellent records are offered Chancellor Graduate Student Award, ranging from $1,000 to $7,000 as supplements to their other support. These awards are renewable for several years, depending on satisfactory progress being made toward the degree. No application is necessary; every applicant is considered for these awards.
Research Excellence Award:
The Research Excellence Award (REA) program is designed to incentivize growth of extramural support for graduate students. The Department of Mathematical Sciences offers this award to high-quality, talented graduate students. Subject to fund availability, new applicants and current graduate students with excellent records are offered Research Excellence Award as supplements to their other support. No application is necessary; every applicant or current student is automatically considered for the award. Preference may be given to graduate students who have made excellent progress in research.
A limited number of small, philanthropically-funded merit based awards may also be given to graduate students with a focus in actuarial science. See our Scholarships and Awards page for more information about these types of competitions and awards.
Finally, students may apply for other forms of financial aid such as loans by contacting the Department of Financial Aid or a third party.
How to Apply for Financial Support
Each prospective students who has completed all parts of the application process will automatically be considered for those forms of financial support for which he/she is qualified. Exceptions to that rule are the Graduate School and AOP Fellowship which require separate applications that may be obtained from the Graduate School. As a courtesy, we ask that any applicant who does not wish to be considered for financial support inform the Associate Chair for the Graduate Program with a brief email.
Timeline
Initial decisions on support are typically made in early- to mid-March, with numerous additional offers being made through the month of April depending on the response to early offers and the availability of funds. Student support is normally awarded on an academic year basis with contracts beginning in the Fall Semester. Support is sometimes available for a few students who wish to begin their studies in the Spring Semester.