Program Costs
Considering the cost of a graduate program is an important part of the decision process. Information about estimated costs for the graduate degrees offered by the department is provided by the Graduate School:
Financial Aid provides a breakdown of the actual costs of attendance.
If you are a veteran, please visit this page for Veterans Administration Educational Benefits.
Funding
Funding is an important factor in your decision to accept an offer from a graduate program and it is important for you to understand how funding works at each program you apply to.
All applicants are considered for funding during the application process, though funding is limited and not guaranteed. Students who are funded typically receive a monthly stipend, academic tuition and fees, and a subsidy of 100% of the student health insurance premiums during periods of appointment. Typical appointments in geography are:
- University Fellowship: The University Fellowship provides funding for an incoming graduate student's study for a specified number of years. In years where the student is not on fellowship, the student is appointed as either a graduate teaching associate (GTA) or graduate research associate (GRA), at the department's discretion. Application Process: Applicants who apply before the November 15 deadline are automatically considered for a University Fellowship. For details about the University Fellowship program, including eligibility requirements and criteria for selection, visit Graduate Fellows.
- Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA): GTA assignments are assigned through the Geography department and are first allocated to students previously appointed as University Fellows who have demonstrated satisfactory academic progress. If resources and instructional demands allow, the department will offer a GTA appointment to those top-ranked applicant(s) not already receiving a Fellowship.
- Graduate Research Associate (GRA): Occasionally, Geography faculty members have funds from research projects with which they can appoint a graduate research associate. Given the relative scarcity of such positions, it is important for applicants to communicate early with potential mentors about such research opportunities. Individual faculty members ultimately select GRA's for their specific funded projects.
- Other funding options exist. As stated in the Graduate Handbook, students who exhaust the funding available to them from the department will be expected to compete for outside funding. However, even if you have years of Departmental funding left you should consider applying for funding that is external to the Department in order to fund fieldwork as well as to show future employers a successful history of acquiring funding.