Information for:
Funding for Graduate Study
Departmental Sources
Each department is given a certain amount of financial support to recruit outstanding applicants. For more information, contact your Graduate Program Director . Most opportunities are for students enrolled on a full-time basis, but rules governing the awards vary.
Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs)
Students with GRA appointments are expected to support faculty research. Full-time GRAs are expected to work 20 hours per week and can receive up to 12 credits of tuition waiver; half time GRAs, working 10 hours a week, receive up to 6 credits.
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs)
GTAs support the department by engaging in activities related to teaching. These can include: teaching sections of courses/labs, supporting instructors teaching large sections, tutoring, advising, and curriculum development. GTA awards may or may not come with a tuition waiver.
Tuition Waivers
Students with tuition waivers must be appointed to either a GRA or GTA position. Each student is awarded a certain dollar amount to be applied to their tuition costs.Fellowship Awards
These are monetary awards made to the highest qualified students. No service to the department or university is required for these awards.
CHSS Dean's Office
Periodically the CHSS Dean’s Office will create an assistantship position to meet a specific need within the College. These can include offering technical or curricular support to a program or a GRA position to assist with a college or university project. When such opportunities arise, academic departments are notified and asked to inform students.
Provost's Office
Each academic year the Provost’s Office accepts nominations from departments for the Presidential Scholars program. These opportunities are for applicants intending to pursue a doctoral degree, and can be renewed up to three years. For more information, contact your Graduate Program Director.
Employment
Full-time and part-time employees at George Mason are eligible for partial tuition waivers as a benefit of employment. For more information, see the Benefits section of Human Resources. Students are also eligible to apply for wage positions at the university. These positions offer the benefit of allowing the student to work and pursue study at the same location, but do not carry tuition benefits. For more information, refer to the Student Wage section of the Human Resources Employment web site.
Additional Sources of Funding
There are a large number of local and national organizations and foundations that offer scholarships and fellowships to students pursuing graduate degrees. The university's Office of Student Academic Affairs provides information on some of these opportunities. The Office of Student Financial Aid also maintains a partial list of awards CHSS graduate students are eligible to apply for. Additionally, students can use any number of search engines to find scholarships and fellowships based on their discipline of study, background, or other factors. The website http://scholarships.fatomei.com provides a relatively comprehensive list of these competitive national funding opportunities.
Office of Student Academic Affairs: Scholarship/Fellowship Info
Office of Student Financial Aid: Scholarship/Fellowship Info