As a graduate student, you'll have opportunities to apply for financial assistance through graduate teaching and research assistantships and fellowships offered within the CMU Department of Chemistry as well as the College of Science and Technology and the College of Graduate Studies.
In addition to providing financial assistance to help you complete your degree, graduate assistantships and fellowships offer opportunities to develop and enhance your career-related skills.
Graduate teaching and research assistantships
The CMU Department of Chemistry has graduate teaching assistantships available for students in the M.S. and M.A. programs.
Graduate teaching assistantships (GTAs) and graduate research assistantships (GRAs) are service-related appointments that require teaching or research, respectively. Through an assistantship, you'll receive a stipend, resident (Michigan) tuition rates, a tuition waiver, travel accident insurance and special library privileges. A full-time assistantship during the fall and spring semesters requires approximately 20 hours of work per week; a half-time assistantship requires approximately 10 hours of work per week.
Compensation
In 2010-2011, GTAs received the following compensation package:
- An academic year stipend of between $11,000 to $14,800
- 20 credit hours of tuition waiver for the academic year (unused hours may be used in the summer)
- Out-of-state tuition waiver
- A summer stipend of between $1,750 and $2,400
Re-appointment policy
Graduate teaching assistantships are awarded for one year. Assistantships awarded to students in a master's degree program are renewable for one additional year. Graduate assistants enrolled in a master's program requesting an assistantship beyond two years must compete with new applicants for such awards.
Applications
Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. All applicants to the chemistry graduate programs are automatically considered for teaching and research assistantships. Part-time students are not eligible. Applications for admission to the graduate programs in chemistry are available through the College of Graduate Studies.
In addition to the standard College of Graduate Studies admission
requirements, you must submit scores for the General GRE; the chemistry
subject GRE is recommended. Also, you must arrange for 2-3 persons
familiar with your academic abilities and suitability as a graduate
student and teaching assistant to send letters of recommendation to the
Graduate College.
To receive full consideration for financial support beginning in a fall semester, all application materials must be received
no later than February 1.
- Letters of support should be mailed directly to:
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Chemistry
Central Michigan University
Dow Science Complex 268
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859