Graduate Financial Support
Graduate financial support can include research and teaching assistantships, tuition scholarships, fellowships and other scholarships.
Research and Teaching Assistantships
Graduate assistantships are available to academically qualified students and provide a stipend and tuition scholarships. Assistantships usually require 15 to 20 hours per week in a teaching or research role depending on department or faculty needs. Summer opportunities are also available, providing valuable experience as well as additional financial support. New students should indicate they wish to be considered for a graduate assistantship on their application. Continuing students should speak with their academic advisor or the director of graduate studies to be considered for funding.
Scholarships and Fellowships
Applicants are considered for a number of graduate fellowships from UB, SEAS, and ISE at the time of application. Additionally, students can apply for scholarships in Occupational Safety and Health, or in Production Management (the John Zahorjan Scholarship Fund).
Tuition Scholarships
Students who receive graduate assistantships are provided with a tuition scholarship for each semester they receive an assistantship. The scholarship covers the minimum number of credits necessary to maintain full time status (typically, 9 credits or less per semester) and is limited to courses that can be applied to the ISE degree. In some cases tuition scholarships may be provided to students who do not hold an assistantship: Contact the graduate director for details.
Limits for Tuition Scholarships: The maximum limit for a tuition scholarship for students in the master's program is 30 credit hours (minus transfer credits). The maximum limit for tuition scholarship for students in the PhD program is 72 credit hours (minus transfer credits). Up to three (3) credit hours of required remedial language may be excluded from the above maximums. Up to six (6) credit hours for undergraduate courses taken while in a graduate program of study may be excluded from the above maximums even though they do not count as degree requirements as long as they are recommended in writing by a graduate advisor. The above maximums for the MS and PhD programs include all credit hours of a student's graduate program regardless of the payment source for the tuition. Essentially, the first 30 hours taken toward a master's degree and the first 72 hours taken towards a PhD degree are eligible for a tuition scholarship. Credit hours paid for by another division (other than the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) of the university or by the student are explicitly counted in the maximums.
Students wishing to pursue degrees outside of ISE while completing an IE PhD degree should speak with the graduate director about tuition funding: generally ISE will not pay for any credits that will be applied to the second program, and students must be prepared to fund those credits themselves.
Out-of-state students receiving a tuition scholarship are expected to apply for and obtain NYS residency as soon as they are eligible; tuition scholarships may be limited to in-state rates (for those students eligible for residency).
