Financial Support for Graduate Students
Assistantships
The Department of Psychological Sciences attempts to provide an assistantship to every graduate student, if funds are available. At times, there may be graduate assistantships available in other departments on campus. In the Department of Psychological Sciences, graduate students who hold assistantships might be involved with faculty research, assist faculty in teaching psychology classes, teach laboratories, or be engaged in applied work, among other activities. Placement of graduate students with faculty members is based on the experience and background of the student, the similarity of interests of the student and faculty member, and the faculty member's needs. It is recommended that students contact faculty with whom they are interested in working to gain an understanding of what an assistantship with that professor would involve.
The amount of the stipends may vary, depending on the particular assistantship duties. Assistantships are assigned through the Psychological Sciences Department Chair or his/her representative. Once appointed, graduate assistants must maintain a GPA of 3.0 in all course work.
The Graduate School also provides funds for supplemental graduate assistantships (Super GAs) and graduate fellowships based on merit and rank in the applicant pool. These awards typically provide a student with an assistantship stipend, as well as a full or partial tuition waiver. No application is necessary for the Super GA; all applicants will be considered for this award. Likewise, no application is necessary for the graduate fellowship award, but students who are eligible will be asked to provide materials for evaluation.
Minority students (i.e., those classified as African American, American Indian/Alaskan native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or Hispanic/Latino) may be eligible for the Distinguished Minority Fellowship (DMF) program. See the Distinguished Minority Fellowship homepage for more information.
Tuition Waivers
A few partial tuition waivers (amounts vary greatly) are awarded through the graduate program in the Department of Psychological Sciences. The availability and criteria for awarding the tuition waivers can vary from year to year. Program faculty consider a student's financial need and academic merit when making the awards. No application is necessary.
Health Insurance
Health insurance coverage, subsidized by the Graduate School, is available to graduate students for a nominal fee.
Conference Travel
The Department of Psychological Sciences, the College Dean's Office, and the Graduate School often provide funding to partially offset the cost of travel to a professional conference. See the Graduate School Conference and Research Travel Grants webpage for more information.
Research Grants
Graduate students can apply to the Graduate School for research grants up to $2,000 to support research costs, including participant payments. See the Graduate School Research Grants webpage for more information.
Scholarships
Students interested in applying for scholarships should visit the WKU Scholarships webpage.
Have questions? Please contact Dr. Katrina Burch
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