Funding
We guarantee all PhD students full funding. As a departmental policy, we do not make offers of financial assistance to master’s applicants. We encourage all graduate students to search and apply for external funding such as fellowships and scholarships.
PhD Program
All PhD applicants who are accepted for admission will be fully supported (stipend, tuition, health care), typically through funds secured by their faculty advisor. These funds may come from a variety of sources, including department, college, and university fellowships, external grants, or external scholarships, as arranged by the faculty advisor.
Students are encouraged to seek outside funding, such as fellowships from NSF, DoD, NASA, DoE, etc., to provide maximum flexibility in the type of research pursued. Regardless of the source, full funding is guaranteed for PhD students for at least five years, provided they are making satisfactory progress toward their doctorate.
Master’s Program
Admission to the master’s program is not accompanied by financial aid and students are expected to secure their own financial support. There are very limited opportunities for department positions after beginning the program, such as research and teaching assistant positions.
Positions in the department
Graduate student research assistant (GSRA) and graduate student instructor (GSI) positions are available, although these are very competitive. Most of these positions are given to doctoral students. Approximately one-third of our SUGS students and 6% of our MSE students have a GSRA or GSI position during a term of their graduate program. SUGS students in particular may find GSI positions with undergraduate lab courses.
The Aerospace Engineering Department’s work-study program is only for undergraduate students. Master’s students may apply for positions as graders, which are announced via email after the start of the term.
International students
International students seeking employment must ensure that they are eligible to work, and that the number of hours of work does not exceed any restrictions stipulated in their visas. Students should keep in mind, however, that graduate classes may be time-consuming, and maintaining a high GPA can be difficult with the time demands of employment.
Learn more about On-campus employment for F-1/J-1 students
