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Assistantships, Fellowship, Scholarships

Assistantships, Fellowships, Scholarships

A limited number of assistantships are available for full-time students who must take at least three courses per semester and provide ten hours of research assistance each week to designated faculty members. The State Board of Regents may continue to provide a few well funded fellowships for especially qualified applicants. Tuition scholarships also are available for some students. In no case will financial aid last longer than three academic years, unless so provided in Regents' Fellowships. All applicants planning on full-time study are considered for the assistantship and fellowship, and some of the scholarships are available for part-time students.

Assistantships
For students to be considered eligible for an assistantship the following conditions shall be met:

  • Must be admitted in the Ph.D. Program with a regular of probationary status 
  • Computer and research skills count for extra points (no more than 10 points) 
  • Must be enrolled full-time i.e. nine or more credit hours a semester except during the summer 
  • Must maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA 
  • Occasionally an assistantship may be awarded to an MPA student to facilitate research projects

Based on cumulative scores, awarded shall be determined by a committee beginning with the highest score until the money is allocated is depleted.

Policy for graduate assistants failing to carry nine credit hours each semester
An assistantship shall be revoked for dropping to less than nine credits each semester.

  • Students with less than a 3.0 GPA shall not be eligible for further assistantship until the GPA requirement is met 
  • Students are encouraged to substitute or add when a course is dropped within the add and drop period 
  • Students shall be eligible for reconsideration one academic year from the date of suspension 
  • Independent courses cannot be used more than three times 
  • To qualify for summer assistantship whenever the budget permits, a student must register for six credit hours

**Because the Ph.D. Program is a desegregation program mandating diversity, special consideration shall be extended to the other race students in assistantships, tuition waivers, and tuition scholarship.

General Tuition-Waiver/Scholarship 
Students who enroll full-time but have no assistantship shall be considered for tuition scholarship subject to the following conditions including budget limitations.

  • Must enroll full-time and carry full-time load (nine or more credit hours) to the end of the semester/term 
  • Students with full employment with reasonable incomes are ineligible for consideration even if enrolled full-time or part-time. (Reasonable income determined by the committee) 
  • It is considered a violation to drop to less than nine credit hours during the semester while holding a tuition scholarship/waiver. 
  • The penalty for dropping to less than nine credits will be revocation of the award with eligibility for reconsideration two academic years from the date of the revocation 
  • Part-time scholarships will be revoked if the beginning credits are not carried to the end of the semester/term