Financial Aid
Financial support for graduate education can be obtained from many places. There are many national competitions for fellowships that U.S. students can apply to, and a search on the web can provide information on these. However, one should recognize that these fellowships tend to be highly competitive, and only the top students will have any chance of getting one. Within OSU, there are a variety of mechanisms to obtain funding for graduate education. These can be divided into fellowships (both university and industrial), graduate research associateships (GRA’s), and graduate teaching associateships (GTA’s). In addition, there are graduate administrative associateships (GAA’s), but the number of positions in this category is very limited, so we will not discuss it here. All 3 positions pay the same stipend ($1700 per month), provide a tuition waiver, and subsidizes health insurance (85% subsidy); however, they duties associated with each position and the process in which the students are selected for the support are very different.
University Fellowships
The University fellowship program is administered by the Graduate school. Each year (before approximately February 7), the department submits a list of prospective students to this competition. These students must have already been recommended for admission to our department and must have indicated that their final goal is to obtain a Ph.D. degree at OSU on their application by checking the box labeled “masters/doctorate” for those with a BS degree or by checking “doctorate only” for those who already have or will obtain the MS degree before entering OSU. In addition to satisfying the above requirement, the applicant should be ranked in the top 10% of their class and score well on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). To be even considered for the fellowship, students taking the GRE test must achieve a 75th percentile average on the general exam’s Verbal and Quantitative components and a 4.0 on the Analytical Writing component. A committee in the graduate school evaluates the prospective graduate students in a university-wide competition, and awards are announced by approximately March 15. Extraordinary evidence of accomplishments especially in research can significantly boost your chances of getting a fellowship.
There are a number of University fellowships. The most numerous provides one year of support. For those candidates who are truly outstanding, there are two and three year University fellowships available. Those students who are making good progress toward a Ph.D. are usually supported continuously (in the form of a GRA or GTA after the fellowship) until they finish
Industrial Fellowships
There are number of fellowships that are provided by industry. These awards are usually tied to a specific laboratory or faculty member, and they are usually limited to students who which to perform research within a specific area in ECE. They are given with the recommendation of the department and concurrence of the companies involved. Most of these fellowships are intended for students who plan to eventually obtain a Ph.D. A student cannot apply directly for these fellowships. They are evaluated based on their application material and their stated areas of interest.
Graduate Teaching Associateships (GTA’s)
These positions are awarded to newly arrived and presently enrolled students as needs arise and budgets allow. GTA’s usually are responsible for 2 or 3 sections of an introductory laboratory course or serve as an aide to a professor under a halftime (20 hours/week) appointment. The appointments usually extend over the three quarters (Autumn, Winter, Spring) of the academic year with summer appointments available to a lesser extent. However, it is hoped that the GTA will be successful in obtaining a GRA so the GTA renewal will not normally be necessary.
A number of the available GTA positions are made to new incoming graduate students; however, the student cannot directly apply for such a position since all applicants will be evaluated based on the application material. All students whose native language is not English must pass the SPEAK test to be considered for a GTA position. Students considering a GTA position must take this test as soon as they arrive in Columbus.
The remaining positions are reserved for continuing students and are granted on the basis of academic record and research progress, past teaching performance, and the course/lab positions that need to be filled. Most of the positions are allocated to Ph.D. students or those who have set as their final goal as a Ph.D. degree.
In addition to obtaining a GTA in ECE, many of our students have obtained GTA positions in other departments once they enroll for graduate school here. In the past, students have obtained positions in the College of Engineering (as GTA’s for the freshman honors program), Department of Mathematics, Department of Chemistry, Department of Near Eastern Studies (if one speaks Arabic), and possibly others.
Graduate Research Associateships (GRA’s)
The majority of the supported graduate students in the department is funded through a GRA. GRA’s are responsible for performing research tasks on a particular budgeted contract secured by an individual faculty member, research staff member, or laboratory group. The appointment is for halftime (20 hours/week) and the research usually leads to the satisfaction of thesis or dissertation requirements. Since the stipend is paid by individual research contracts, a student who seeks a GRA appointment must contact individual faculty members or research groups in the area of interest and see if needs and funds exist to provide support. It should be noted that mass mailings to faculty members do not usually work well since each faculty member has very specific needs and are seeking students who have a strong background in the area or areas that they are interested in. One should also recognize that the amount of funding in different areas within the department can be very uneven and in fact the distribution among the areas can change very rapidly in a short time. We recommend that the prospective student thoroughly investigate the faculty members’ research records and determine which ones best fit the student’s interest. Contact with faculty members should only be made once the student has gone through such a process.