Graduate Funding Opportunities

The ECE Department offers financial assistance in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships and scholarships to exceptional incoming graduate students. Teaching assistantships, some fellowships and scholarships are administered by the department. Research assistantships, some fellowships and scholarships are administered by the various areas of specialization and/or individual faculty members.

Your application for admissions automatically results in consideration for financial assistance from the department. You need not make a separate application for teaching assistantships or fellowships. However, the department makes decisions about admission and assistantships at different times. You may receive an offer of admission and then at some later point in time a separate offer of financial assistance.

Research Assistantships (RAs)

Research assistantships are offered by the faculty based on the student’s background, research interests and their match to faculty‘s research projects. Several of our faculty members are actively involved in various research projects and exceptional students often are offered research assistantships by the faculty before they arrive on campus. The students are advised to contact the faculty in their areas of interest for consideration for research assistantships. The areas of specialization, which briefly summarizes research programs and faculty interests, are enclosed to help you contact the appropriate faculty.

RAs provide a monthly stipend (minimum $2,250) as well as tuition payment and are provided by individual faculty members. Inquiries regarding RAs should be directed to the faculty member with whom you would like to work.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

TAs provide the same support as an RA (stipend plus tuition). The teaching assistant is assigned to teach laboratory courses within the department. International students must pass the English Language Proficiency Examination (ELPE) administered by Texas A&M before they can be eligible for a TA position. An international student must receive a bachelor’s degree following 4 years of study at a US accredited institution to be exempted from taking the ELPE. TAs are typically not offered to incoming international students unless they have been exempted from taking the ELPE. International students are encouraged to sign up to take the ELPE upon arrival on campus so that they may be considered for TAs in future semesters.

Teaching Assistant Application (TA)

External Fellowships

A variety of fellowships are available from the department, university, and other outside sources. Information on various fellowships is posted on our website. All admitted applicants will be considered for internal sources of fellowships. No separate application is needed. For external sources of funding, the applicant must contact the funding source directly.

For more information on our department assistantships and fellowships, please email us at gradinfo@ece.tamu.edu. We will be happy to answer any questions.

Scholarships

The department offers a number of $1,000 scholarships to incoming students on a competitive basis. In addition, these scholarships also qualify the recipient to be eligible for the in-state tuition rate for the remainder of the year. This can represent approximately $6,000 in tuition savings. Please email gradinfo@ece.tamu.edu for more information.