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Financial Assistance
Qualified applicants requesting a "graduate appointment" on the Application Form are automatically considered for financial assistance. No special application or additional materials are required. Notification of the award of financial aid is included with your departmental letter of acceptance.
Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs)
Graduate Research Assistantships, the most common form of financial aid, are awarded annually depending on degree, experience, and availability of funds. Some graduate assistants may be members of a Bargaining Unit. For these graduate assistants, terms and conditions of employment for service not required as part of their degree requirements are prescribed in a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Competition for Assistantships is very intense. There can be no assurance that funding will be available.
An assistant on a half-time appointment normally spends one-third of his or her time on research during the academic year and full-time during the summer. Assistantship appointments also provide tuition remission. The policy includes summer term. For the complete Graduate Tuition Remission Policy, see:
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/grad_school/Graduate_Funding/tuitionremissionhome.htm.
Because Research Assistantships are associated with individual faculty research projects, work is supervised by the faculty Principal Investigator, usually the major professor. Normally, this work serves as the basis for the student's Thesis, although the student may also be required to perform other research tasks. The number of assistantships varies from year to year depending on the research programs of the Department and availability of funds.
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs)
Graduate Teaching Assistants are usually appointed for an academic term and include Tuition Waiver. Teaching Assistantships are often combined with Research Assistantships. All PhD students are expected to assist in teaching at least one term during their residency to gain experience in this important endeavor.
Fellowships
Priority will be given to applications completed and received by the Graduate
Program Coordinator in the Department of Forest Resources by January
1 for
College fellowship consideration. The College of Forestry administers the Mary
McDonald, Schutz, Moltke, Hoener, Alexander, and other Fellowships; requirements
vary. All recipients must meet academic standards; Fellowships often accompany
a GRA/GTA offer. The Associate Department Head nominates applicants, and the
College of Forestry Fellowship Committee considers nominees from all departments
and awards the fellowships to the most qualified nominees. In addition, the
OSU Graduate School administers numerous fellowships for applicants selected
from Department nominees.
University Fellowship and Scholarship information can be found through the
Graduate School website at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/grad_school/future/financing.html
Credit-hours
The Department expects that assistants register for the maximum number of credits. The number of credit-hours allowed each term for graduate research and teaching assistants depends on the appointment level. For example, a 15 percent appointment may register for fifteen credit-hours each term, and a 30 to 50 percent appointment may register for twelve credit-hours. Graduate assistants must register for and complete a minimum of twelve credit-hours each term of the appointment, and nine credit hours Summer term. All students enrolling for at least 9 credits are advised to register for their maximum allowable credits each term, using thesis credits to increase their loads to the allowable maximum.
Student Hourly Wages
Some professors may hire graduate students to work on an hourly basis for their research projects. These opportunities are limited by available funds. Total compensation may not exceed the equivalent of a 50 percent Graduate Assistantship and does not include a tuition waiver.
OSU Financial Aid
The University Financial Aid Office administers student loans, grants, College work-study, and scholarship programs, including foreign student tuition scholarships. For more information, contact:
OSU
Financial Aid Office
218 Kerr Administration Building
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331 (541) 737-2241
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Financial Aid