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Assistantships and Fellowships

Financial Assistance

The University of Tennessee is committed to providing quality education at a reasonable cost, and a number of programs have been developed to help graduate students finance their studies.

The department offers graduate research assistantships (GRA). GRA positions include monthly stipends of $2,300 for beginning MS and PhD students, $2,400 for beginning PhD students who have passed the qualifier, and $2,500 for PhD candidates who have passed the Comprehensive Examination, which includes defending their dissertation proposal. These rates result in annual stipends of $27,600 (for beginning new graduate students) to $28,800 (for PhD students who have passed the qualifier) to $30,000 for PhD candidates who have passed the Comprehensive Exam. Several fellowships, graduate assistantships and graduate teaching assistantships with competitive stipends are available for appropriately qualified students. All types of assistantship appointments include waiver of tuition and maintenance fees, but currently students must pay various fees. Beginning fall 2022, graduate students on assistantships will no longer pay mandatory fees (library fee, technology fee, etc.) and differential tuition (charges associated with certain colleges). Such fees will now be covered by the university.

Fellowship Opportunities

National organizations—such as the Department of Energy, the American Nuclear Society, and the National Academy for Nuclear Training—also offer excellent fellowship opportunities for nuclear engineering graduate students. The department can provide information and assistance in applying for the below fellowships.