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Graduate students attending Penn State have a wide range of options for financial aid, depending on their particular needs and circumstances. There are at least five separate avenues that can be explored for funding.
First, the Department awards and administers a number of teaching assistantships through funds from the College of Arts and Architecture, the Graduate School , and the University. Faculty in the Department also receive external research grants on an ad hoc basis, often providing exciting opportunities for graduate students to serve as research assistantships on cutting-edge projects.
Financial help may also be available from the Graduate School , the Office of Student Aid, and sources external to Penn State . For instance, there are well-endowed University Graduate Fellowships awarded to scholastically outstanding incoming students. Minority graduate scholars awards, external fellowships, and traineeships are also available. Each entails its own application process. Penn State 's Student Aid Office (314 Shields Building) is the best source for information on financial aid opportunities from the local to the Federal level. Reference should be made to the Student Aid section of the most recent Graduate Bulletin, the Graduate School Fellowship Office, and the School's web site at http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/.
Teaching assistantships are awarded as available on a competitive, semester-by-semester basis. The department head has the responsibility of coordinating faculty teaching with T.A. assignments, and reserves the right to award assistantships as appropriate. Criteria that are considered in making appointments include academic performance, prior T.A. proficiency (where applicable), and the match between the specific skills held by the graduate student and the task at hand. Teaching assistantships are not normally available beyond a student's fourth semester.
Most of our department's teaching assistantships are "quarter time." The quarter-time T.A. normally schedules 9 to 14 credits per semester, receives a stipend plus a grant-in-aid of resident education tuition, and performs tasks that, on average, occupy approximately ten hours per week.
There is a limited number of half-time T.A. positions. These are usually reserved for students who show strong interest in teaching, and who are capable of taking teaching responsibility for an undergraduate studio section or performing a departmental teaching function that requires specialized skills. The half-time T.A. normally schedules 9 to 11 credits of coursework per semester, receives a stipend plus a grant-in-aid of resident education tuition, and performs tasks that, on average, occupy approximately twenty hours per week.
The M.L.A. program does not generate or coordinate research assistantships (R.A.s). Quarter-time RAs are frequently available from our Centers or individual faculty on a competitive basis, as are grants-in-aid and graduate fellowships. M.L.A. students are apprised of these opportunities as they arise.
Fellowship opportunities exist both within Penn State and through external funding agencies. Our department had been particularly successful in garnering University Graduate Fellowships, providing stipend plus tuition for the first year for incoming students with outstanding credentials. External fellowship opportunities also arise on an ad hoc basis. M.L.A. students are apprised of these opportunities by the Graduate Program Coordinator.
Just as we carefully seek a strong fit between incoming M.L.A. students and our program, we work hard to place our M.L.A. students in teaching or research assistantships where student interests and strengths match the tasks at hand as effectively as possible.
Incoming M.L.A. students who receive assistantships are assigned a T.A. or R.A. based on assessment of student credentials in combination with departmental needs. Students already in the M.L.A. program are sent a "call for assistantship bids" about two-thirds of the way through each semester. Students respond with "bids" on 1st , 2nd , and 3rd choice preference for upcoming assistantship opportunities. The M.L.A. Program Committee then reviews the combination of student preferences with departmental needs to make recommendations to the Department Head. In this way, we strive for the important combination of students and faculty satisfaction with jobs well done.
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