Funding Your Education

The Graduate and Professional School at Texas A&M University is here to help you find funding opportunities for your education. Whether you’re working toward your master’s degree, your doctorate or a professional certification, your education is an investment that matters.

The Graduate and Professional School will work with you to make sure that you understand the cost of your tuition and the options available to you. From fellowship award stipends to scholarships, grants to employment opportunities, there are plenty of graduate student funding opportunities to help you pay for your degree.

What is the Cost to Attend Texas A&M

The cost of attendance varies based on your program and resident status, which can be offset with fellowships, grants and other financial aid. We’ve included information about various funding opportunities farther down the page so you can start developing a financial plan that works for you and your family.

Financial Aid

When developing your funding plan, the first place to start is by applying for financial aid. There are three different financial aid applications depending on your citizenship and residency: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA), and International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA). The Graduate and Professional School can help you get started.

Graduate Assistantships

A graduate assistantship allows students to get part-time, paid work experience in their fields while also assisting faculty and staff with specialty research projects, teaching or other administrative activities.

Texas A&M offers four types of graduate assistantships: teaching, research, lecturer and nonteaching activities. These assistantships require employment on an average of twenty hours per week and are typically available through the academic department, college, agencies or administrative office with which you are associated.

Who should apply for a graduate assistantship?

This opportunity is best suited for doctoral- or master’s-degree-seeking students who are open to gaining experience through research, teaching or administrative work. If you take part in an assistantship, you’ll be required to register full-time and work twenty hours per week on average while completing your degree, so it’s important to be able to balance time between your studies and work.

FellowsHIPS

A fellowship is a funding award given to master’s and doctoral students. Fellowships can last from a few months to a few years, and usually take the form of a regularly scheduled stipend that is provided to a student to assist with living and educationally related expenses.

Ordinarily, graduate students holding fellowships are not required to perform any services. Instead, fellows are encouraged to participate in professional development, networking and intensive specialized training. Many competitive fellowships of $1,000 or greater per academic year also allow students to pay tuition at the in-state rate.

Who should apply for a fellowship?

Fellowships provide an opportunity to hyper-focus on your studies to reach the top of your field. Master’s and doctoral students who have a driving passion about their subject are ideal fellowship candidates.

What kind of fellowship could I receive?

There are internal fellowships sponsored by the Graduate and Professional School, departments and colleges. You can also apply for external fellowships funded by federal agencies, foundations and industries. These include the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship; the National Institute of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award; the Fulbright Program; and others. Some external fellowships are processed by the GPS and others may be processed by your department or college.

Additional Funding OPPORTUNITIES

In addition to the more common funding methods above, there are even more funding opportunities for graduate student to help you pay for your education.

Supplemental funding for External National Fellowships through the Graduate recruitment, enhancement and travel (gREAT) Program

To attract high-achieving graduate students to our graduate and professional programs, Texas A&M’s Graduate Recruitment, Enhancement and Travel (GREAT) Program supplements external fellowships and federal training grants, and covers travel expenses for qualified prospective students with external fellowships to visit our campus. Through the GREAT Program, we offer funding for national fellows that is competitive with the nation’s top graduate schools. 

Funding To Promote CLIMATE ENHANCEMENT

The Graduate and Professional School is committed to improving the educational experience for all students by increasing diversity of persons and views. Part of this initiative involves providing funding to support research, training and, most importantly, our students.