Funding and Costs for Grad Students

Assistantship Funding (Ph.D.)

The standard financial aid offer is a half-time (20 hours/week) assistantship paying a stipend of $20,400 per academic year (9-month appointment) for first-year students. Assistantship appointments are renewable annually for 5 years for Ph.D. students provided the student makes satisfactory academic progress and performs duties in an acceptable manner. Funding for a sixth year of Ph.D. studies may be available and is dependent on a number of factors including exemplary performance of duties and normal progress toward the degree. 

In addition to the stipend, students on assistantship (1/4-time or greater) are assessed tuition at Iowa-resident rates and, assuming they maintain a 3.0 GPA, are also granted a Graduate College Tuition Scholarship offsetting all or part of resident tuition. Ph.D. students on 1/2-time assistantship receive a tuition scholarship equal to 100% of the resident tuition. M.S. students* on 1/2-time assistantships receive a tuition scholarship equal to 50% of the resident tuition. There are approximately $750 of student fees each semester that are not covered by the tuition scholarship and would be the student's responsibility. 

Students on assistantship also receive health insurance.

All complete applications are considered for assistantships. No separate application form is needed. Applicants do not need to be affiliated with a specific faculty member prior to admission in order to secure funding. Particularly outstanding applicants will also be considered for scholarship awards in addition to a research or teaching assistantship position.

*At this time, assistantship funding is reserved primarily for Ph.D. students.

Tuition and Fees

The 2022-2023 tuition is $6,194 per semester for residents of Iowa, $14,297 per semester for nonresidents, and $15,181 for international students. Graduate students on assistantship are assessed tuition at the Iowa resident rate. Tuition for the next academic year will likely be somewhat higher. Graduate students are also responsible for mandatory fees of approximately $750 per semester. 

Housing Information

Ames ranks as #15 on Livability's 2020 Top 100 places to live: "ridiculously friendly people and a quality of life you won’t find anywhere else." Graduate student housing costs vary depending upon the type of living arrangement chosen. Visit Resources for housing to learn about both off-campus housing and on-campus residence options.

Expenses

See Estimated Grad Student Costs for listings of estimated student expenses for a nine-month academic year. Please note that the Office of Admissions updates these figures so they may increase in future academic years. These figures are only estimates and can vary student to student.