Graduate research and teaching assistantships with competitive stipends are available to students in our plan-A (Thesis) graduate programs. They are not available for students in the plan-B (non-Thesis) AEG-MS degree. For PhD students, the value of the TA/RA stipend is increased once you have officially “advanced to candidacy” after your comprehensive exams and Dissertation proposal are complete. Finally, prestigious College and University-level Fellowships are awarded to select graduate students.

The Department of Geology works hard to provide graduate tuition funding through a combination of state funding, research grants, and donations from generous alumni. Generally, if you receive a graduate teaching or research assistantship, or a graduate Fellowship, your tuition is covered. In order to do so, we ask that you take the steps to gain formal Utah residency in your first year here.

Full-time graduate students receiving assistantship support are required to have health insurance, and we subsidize the vast majority of costs for USU’s student health insurance program. All enrolled graduate students, including those less than full time or not receiving assistantship support, are eligible for this insurance.

The Geology Department has three named scholarships that are awarded on an annual basis to graduate students in support of field research.