Skip to main content

Financing Graduate Education

Financial Support for your Doctoral Program

Provost’s Fellowships are one-year awards with a stipend level to be determined by the Fellow’s respective college. These Fellowships are designed to help in college and departmental efforts to recruit outstanding new doctoral students to NC State University. Prospective students cannot apply directly for these fellowships, but are nominated by their respective colleges.

Only doctoral students are eligible to receive a Provost’s Fellowship. Fellowships cover tuition and health insurance. The out-of-state portion of tuition (where applicable) also is covered by the fellowship. Tuition and health insurance associated with the Fellowship will be covered in accordance with Graduate Student Support Plan (GSSP) guidelines.

Graduate Research Assistantships (RA)

Research assistantships are awarded by an individual faculty researcher to doctoral students who are interested in working on research projects in the faculty member’s area for which the researcher has external funding. If you are interested in pursuing a GRA, please fill out the Application for Doctoral Support which will be shared with all faculty who are associated with the PhD degree to which you applied. Research Assistantships are either 9 or 12 month appointments; have a stipend award which varies depending upon funding source; and includes tuition, fees, and health insurance as covered in Table 1 above.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (TA)

Most teaching assistantships are granted from a pool of applicants who have received a recommendation from a faculty member who has agreed to advise the applicant on their research. These assistantships are skill-based and granted based on the background information each TA applicant submits via their Graduate Application and Application for Doctoral Support. Proficiency in spoken English is required for all teaching assistantships.

Teaching Assistantships are 9 month appointments (August 16 – May 15); have a stipend award which varies depending upon department; and includes tuition, fees, and health insurance as covered in Table 1 above.

Financial Aid Options

NC State offers graduate students a broad range of financial assistance options that help with tuition and financial-aidliving expenses while they are pursuing their advanced degrees. Graduate students may receive financial support through fellowships/traineeships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, service assistantships, federal work-study programs, and loans.

Please note that fellowships, traineeships, and grants are outright awards and require no service in return. They may be based on merit and/or financial need. Because they are very popular with applicants, it is vital to be aware of all deadline dates when applying for these types of awards.

For more information on the financial aid options open to you: