3) Financial Support

The majority of graduate students in the Department of Mathematics receive financial support in the form of graduate assistantships throughout their graduate career. In the academic year 01/02 the base salary for an incoming graduate student was $1550 per month. Graduate students who have passed the qualifying examinations receive an additional $100 per month. Every Ph.D. student is supported for 12 months per year and every Master's student for 10.5 months per year. Our department has 16 stipends, eight of which are paid by the National Science Foundation, (VIGRE Grant) and the other eight by matching funds from the university. These stipends pay the usual graduate assistant salaries and no teaching duties are required. Highly qualified applicants are nominated by the department for nine and twelve month University Regents or Graduate Merit Fellowships in addition to graduate assistantships. These have annual stipends of up to $18,000 and reduced teaching duties. All applicants are automatically considered for all forms of financial support. Those seeking September admission with possible fellowship support are encouraged to complete their applications by February 15. Numerous opportunities exist for mathematics graduate students to obtain support as Graduate Research Assistants on faculty research contracts and grants. Graduate Research Assistantships can either involve specific duties associated with contract projects or can be more in the nature of fellowships without specific research duties. Graduate assistants qualify for in-state tuition and fees which total approximately $1500 per semester. Every graduate assistant qualifies for the university's health plan which typically pays the full cost of health insurance for a single person.