Funding Your Degree
Most of our graduate students receive financial support as a teaching assistant (TA), research assistant (RA), or with a fellowship. All of these positions provide:
- A living stipend. Stipends for TAs, RAs, and fellowship recipients are typically supplemented by Chancellor’s Graduate Student Awards (CGSA), resulting in a total compensation for PhD students between $19,800 – $22,285 for the 9-month academic year. Many students also receive some additional summer support.
- Benefits including access to health insurance. The university pays most health insurance costs. The student contribution is currently about $68 per month for a single person and varies for family plans.
- Full tuition remission. Tuition remission means that funded students do not pay tuition. Mandatory segregated fees are not covered by tuition remission. These fees provide access to a variety of student services and activities, such as the Student Health Center, recreation center, free shuttle service, and unlimited free rides on Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) buses.
- Conference travel funds. The Graduate School and the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry both provide funds to help all students present work at professional conferences.
CGSA is restricted to the standard timeframe for degree completion, which is five years for the Ph.D. program and three years for the M.S. program.
Please note the stipends and health insurance costs are based on the 2026-2027 academic year and are subject to change.
Resources
- Graduate stipend and credit requirement information is from the UWM Graduate School, specifically the Salary Schedules for teaching, project and research assistants.
- Tuition and general academic information is from the UWM Registrar’s Office. Fees/Tuition is listed within Registration for the semester of interest.