Tuition and Financial Aid

The Graduate School offers a limited number of tuition awards to qualified graduate students who hold assistantships (either a TA or a RA). Qualified students are nominated by the Graduate Program Director for consideration of the Graduate School to receive these awards.

Students admitted to the Ph.D. program who have been awarded an assistantship qualify for the multi-year tuition support package under the Graduate Assistant Support Plan (GASP). This is a highly competitive tuition support program that covers full tuition and health insurance, subject to meeting the requirements of the GASP program. Eligibility criteria for GASP include holding a graduate assistantship (RA or TA) or a qualified fellowship and registration of at least 9 credit hours for each term of support.

For further information on tuition waivers, please read the Graduate School’s tuition awards page.

A number of fellowships are also available to outstanding graduate students. Relevant information may be found at the Graduate School funding website. Interested students should consult their academic advisor or the Graduate Program Director for further information on fellowships. The department nominates deserving candidates for various fellowship opportunities every year, and the awards are made by the Graduate School.

Teaching Assistants are hired by the department to assist faculty members with teaching classes or laboratories. Duties include assisting students with laboratory experiments, grading, conducting problem sessions, and being available to provide technical assistance to students. TA awards are generally made for the academic year (fall and spring semesters). Normally, the number of available TA positions are very few as compare to the number of applicants. Therefore, teaching assistantships are very competitive. Priority is given to Ph.D. students in their initial period of study and Master’s students who are involved in research.

All enrolled graduate students will receive emails from the department with the TA application form at the beginning of each semester.

New applicants to the ECE Ph.D. and M.S.E.E. programs can indicate their interest for a Teaching Assistantship by checking the appropriate box on their online application at the time of applying to the Graduate School in AY.

Students already enrolled in a graduate program should contact the department by email (anasipur@uncc.edu).

Requirements to be qualified for a TA appointment:

1. Must be a full time ECE student and pursuing a graduate degree in the ECE department.
2. Must maintain a GPA of 3 points or better.
3. International students must pass ELTI English language requirements.

Limitations:

1. Ph.D. students will not receive TAs for more than 6 semesters after receiving their M.S. degrees.
2. Ph.D. students must pass their qualifying exam in the second year of residency toward their degree.
3. M.S. students cannot work more than 4 semesters as TAs.
4. TAs may be discontinued on the recommendation of the department chair due to lack of performance as a TA.
5. TAs may be discontinued on the recommendation of the department chair due to lack of progress toward their degrees.
6. Availability of Teaching Assistantships is subject to the ECE department’s funding availability.

Research Assistants are hired by faculty members with research grants to assist them with their research projects. RAs are administered by individual faculty members with funding. Therefore, students interested in research assistantships should contact individual faculty members directly.