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Funding and Support

Current and prospective graduate students have access to numerous types of financial support, both internal and external, to cover or defray the costs of graduate education. Current graduate students should check with their graduate program staff assistant and/or the Grad eNews for funding opportunities. 

Teaching and Research Assistantships

The most common form of financial support for students, graduate assistantships are available to the thesis-based master of science students and doctoral candidates. Graduate assistants support undergraduate instruction or undertake research projects and receive a stipend, tuition remission, and subsidy for medical insurance. Assistantships are awarded by individual academic departments.

Scholarships and Fellowships

Awarded by the College of Engineering or specific academic departments, scholarships are available to doctoral candidates and based on academic merit, with some scholarships considering financial need or other criteria. Upon application for doctoral program admission, prospective students are automatically considered for relevant scholarships.

Fellowships, highly prestigious financial support packages, are competitively available to graduate students in research-based programs. These fellowships typically include a stipend, tuition remission, and a Student Health Insurance Plan subsidy, which covers medical, dental, and vision needs. Unlike assistantships, fellowships do not have required instruction or research responsibilities. Recipients must be enrolled in degree programs and be registered full time.

Upon application for doctoral program admission, prospective students may be nominated by their departments for University Graduate Fellowships from Penn State. This is the University’s most prestigious fellowship.

For scholarship and fellowship options, visit the following Graduate School pages.

Advancing Master's Program

The Advancing Master’s Program provides assistance for the successful completion of a two-year master’s degree with a thesis for talented students with demonstrated financial need for selected majors in the Penn State College of Engineering. The AMP Scholars program offers scholarship funding up to $10,000 for each of two years and a mentoring and professional development program. 

To learn more, visit the AMP web page or email Professor Julio Urbina at jvu1@psu.edu

Loans and Other Aid

The Penn State Office of Student Aid maintains details on graduate student loan options including subsidized and unsubsidized federal direct loans and private alternative loans.

Work-study awards provide students with opportunities to find a job and work on campus or remotely to assist in funding their education. Students must file a FAFSA for eligibility.

“When talking to other graduate schools around the country, no other faculty spent nearly the same amount of time talking to me about their research and projects. They worked to find where I could fit based on my interests and background.”

— Torsten Maier, Ph.D. student, Industrial Engineering

Graduate Programs


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