Teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships are awarded competitively to qualified applicants. All assistants and fellowship holders receive health insurance and are eligible for full tuition scholarships.

Assistantships for the 2022-23 academic year pay at least $16,800 for both M.S. and Ph.D. students for a 40-week appointment. Some summer teaching and research assistantships are available. Qualified applicants may be nominated for competitive fellowships awarded by the Graduate School.



Departmental Pirtle Fellowships are available to exceptional applicants to the graduate program, which provides $3,000 as a summer stipend. Pirtle Fellowships require outstanding metrics (typically overall GPA >3.85, evidence of excellence in research through publications and/presentation, and outstanding letters of recommendation). The fellowship is renewable, contingent on satisfactory progress as determined by the Advisor and committee, for a second summer for M.S. students and for two additional summers for Ph.D. students. Recipients of the Pirtle Fellowship must be engaged in thesis/dissertation research or writing, and cannot hold employment outside the department during the term of the award. 



Tuition scholarships for 2022-23 are valued at approximartely $12,726 per year for Kentucky residents and $30,224 per year for out-of-state (including international) students. More information on tuition and fees can be found at https://www.uky.edu/studentaccount/tuition.  Details about tuition scholarships are at http://www.research.uky.edu/gs/StudentFunding/tuition.html.

For more information, please contact our Director of Graduate Studies.