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, three to seven of these awards are given to new students entering the program. For more details on these forms of financial aid, please see the Graduate School Funding page. In addition, students may apply for other forms of financial aid such as loans by contacting the Office of Financial Aid or a third party.

• Research Assistantships:
  Faculty members often have support for research assistants as part of their research funding. Prospective students are encouraged to contact faculty with whom they share research interests early in the application process to learn about possible research assistant opportunities under their supervision. Research assistantships include full tuition remission, offer health insurance coverage, and currently pay academic and annual stipends of $21,000 and $25,667, respectively.
• Teaching Assistantships:
  Other 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 50% academic-year TA stipend for the 2021-22 academic year ranges from $13,750 to $16,600, depending on the degree program (M.S. vs. Ph.D.) and, for the Ph.D., progress toward the degree. These are typically augmented in our program by Chancellor’s Graduate Student and/or Research Excellence Awards.
• Distinguished Graduate School Fellowship:
  Outstanding applicants may apply for UWM Graduate School’s Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships. 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 in late January 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. These awards include a 9-month stipend, full tuition remission, and offer health insurance coverage and may be renewed for two to three years, depending on the level of study. The application deadline is in late January each year.

Applying 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 at the above links. As a courtesy, we ask that any applicant who does not wish to be considered for financial support inform the Atmospheric Science Program Chair with a brief email.

Support Decisions

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. Teaching assistantships are normally awarded on an academic year basis with contracts beginning in the Fall Semester. Research assistantships may be offered on an academic year or annual basis. Unfortunately, support for students who wish to begin their studies in the Spring semester is typically not available and is generally limited to faculty-supported Research Assistantships.

Additional Financial Opportunities

See Professor Evans’ Graduate Scholarships, Fellowships, and Post-Doctoral Fellowships web page.