• Award Process for New Students
• Fellowships
• Departmental Teaching and Research Assistantships
• Tuition Waivers
• Loan Possibilities

Award Process for New Students

The Graduate Committee reviews all applications for admission to the Department and determines those that qualify for fellowships or assistantships. Separate application for Departmental assistantships is not required. Students eligible for other forms of assistance such as University Fellowships will be contacted by the Department if additional action is required. However, a student desiring consideration should be certain that the admission application includes transcripts of all undergraduate and any prior graduate work, scores of the Graduate Record Examination, and three letters of recommendation. Any relevant deadline must be observed. Students who think they may be eligible for Fellowships or minority awards are advised to apply for admission by the end of the calendar year for the following Fall, if possible.

Fellowships

University Fellowships

The University Fellowship Program is administered by the Office of Graduate Studies. It is a University-wide competition, open to new and continuing graduate students. Eligible students are nominated by the department, with final selections made by a university committee.  The University Fellowship provides a stipend of $18,000 each plus a tuition waiver of up to twelve hours for the Fall and Spring terms. An upper-division grade point average of at least 3.8 and a GRE verbal and quantitative aptitude total of 1500 constitute the usual minima for eligibility.

Fellowships for Minority Students

In addition to University Fellowship set-asides, students in minority groups may be eligible for other fellowships. Newly enrolling Afro-American students may apply to the McKnight Black Doctoral Fellowship Program. This fellowship provides $12,000 per year plus tuition and fees; it is renewable for a total of four years.

Departmental Teaching and Research Assistantships

The Department of Economics awards a limited number of Teaching and Research Assistantships to incoming students each year.  A half-time assistantship paid a nine-month stipend of $13,000 during the 2005-2006 academic year. These assistantships also include a full tuition waiver for U.S. residents, including a waiver of out-of-state tuition fees in the case of non-Florida residents.  There are a few hundred dollars in fees that cannot be waived by legislative mandate.  The student is responsible for paying these, but the stipend is more than sufficient to cover this. Unfortunately, because of budgetary rules at FSU, the Department normally cannot provide a waiver of out-of-state tuition for international students. Accordingly, even if awarded a departmental assistantship, an international applicant will need at least $15,000 per year of personal funds (or other outside sources) to satisfy U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service financial guarantee requirements. Although there is no formal deadline relevant to the application for assistantships, most of those allocated to entering students are assigned by March 30 for the subsequent academic year. All awards are made on the basis of academic achievement and professional development.

Duties of Teaching Assistants (TAs)

The Department believes that teaching experience is a valuable complement to academic training. Thus, students awarded teaching assistantships are assigned either to help with the large lecture sections of the principles courses or to teach small sections themselves. A teaching assistant attends class lectures; maintains office hours; and helps prepare, administer, and grade homework assignments and examinations. In addition, the assistant may be asked to lecture if the professor is temporarily unavailable or to hold discussion classes as the needs of the course might suggest. TAs with their own sections have responsibility for all phases of the course assignment; such positions typically are reserved for advanced graduate students.

Duties of Research Assistants (RAs)

Research experience under the supervision of a faculty member is an important ingredient in the development of a professional economist. To this end, a student appointed to a research assistantship participates in a project that the faculty member is undertaking. It is hoped that the relationship will develop to the point where the assistant and professor do joint research work; over the years, many RAs have been co-authors with faculty of published articles.

All assistants have an obligation to accept additional minor assignments, e.g., concerning registration or proctoring final exams, as the needs of the Department require.

Departmental policy normally limits financial support to a maximum of four years.  Support beyond that period is considered on an individual basis contingent on satisfactory academic progress and availability of funds. Departmental assistantships are typically renewed each year, contingent on satisfactory academic progress and satisfactory job performance.  If other progress is normal, students who maintain a graduate grade point average of at least 3.3 can expect continued financial support.

Tuition Waivers

University Fellowships and departmental assistantships include a tuition waiver which covers the bulk of in-state fees. U.S. residents receiving such awards can also expect a waiver of out-of-state tuition.  Out-of-state waivers are generally not available to international students, with the exception of those awarded a University Fellowship. Finally, the State of Florida will not allow the department to waive fees or tuition for students who have not been awarded either a fellowship or an assistantship.

Loan Possibilities

Graduate students may apply for long-term educational loans through several programs, and may also be eligible for Work-Study awards. For further information, contact the Office of Financial Aid, University Center, FSU, Tallahassee FL 32306-2430; (850) 644-0539.