It is the goal of the Biology Department to financially support it's Ph.D. candidates. Support comes primarily in the form of Teaching Assistantships (TA’s), which are department funded, and Research Assistantships (RA’s), which are grant funded. The number of assistantships varies from year to year, but there are many more available beginning in the fall semester than in the spring semester. Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis using GPA, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation. We typically admit only as many students as we have funding for. Most TA’s are assigned to teach in freshman or sophomore level laboratory sections with 3 two hour sections or 2 three hour sections per week. International applicants whose native language is not English must submit an acceptable score (45 or higher) on the Test of Spoken English (TSE), a minimum score of 23 on the speaking portion of the TOEFL iBT exam, or a minimum score of 7 on the speaking portion of the IELTS exam before being considered for a Teaching Assistantship. It is essential to apply early. You should have your application materials submitted by 15 Feb., if you wish to be competitive for the following fall semester.
Students holding either a Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) or Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) will have out-of-state tuition reduced to in-state rates, regardless of residence. Additionally, doctoral degree seeking students will receive STEM fellowships, which affords them significantly reduced (~80%) tuition and fees. Students must be a Ph.D.-level Research/Teaching Assistant and be enrolled full time. Students pursuing a Ph.D. but who do not yet have a master's degree or 30 hours of graduate coursework are currently not eligible for STEM. Hopefully, Ph.D. Track students will be covered in the near future.
In addition to GTA and RA funding, the Graduate Dean awards small fellowships to outstanding incoming students. The College of Science and the Department of Biology award small fellowships to outstanding current students.
See the Graduate Handbook for more detailed information.