Financial Aid and Graduate Assistantships
Graduate assistantships are awarded to all doctoral students unless special circumstances exist. The graduate assistantship includes a full tuition waiver and comprehensive fee scholarship. Currently for the 2006-07 academic year, stipends average about $1,600 monthly for nine months . In addition, many doctoral students teach two sections during one six-week summer session to substantially increase their overall remuneration (by approximately $9,000). Finally, the ACIS Department typically has provided an additional scholarship supplement of approximately $2,000 giving most students an income of approximately $25,000 in addition to their tuition and comprehensive fee.
A typical graduate assistantship assignment over the four year program usually finds the student teaching two sections of introductory level material. The next year is usually spent on research assignment in which the Ph.D. student works directly with a faculty member in his/her area of interest. During this period the student learns the art and science of research and how to produce manuscripts to submit to quality journals for publication. The third year finds the Ph.D. student back in the classroom. Finally, the student works on dissertation requirements during the fourth year and is typically on a research assignment.
