The following internal assistantships and awards are available to students:
Fellowships and Scholarships:
Rensselaer Graduate Fellowship and Graduate Dean's Fellowship: These university-supported fellowships are awarded to outstanding applicants to Rensselaer’s PhD programs by the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education at the recommendation of the academic departments and deans. They provide a one time relocation grant as well as a summer top-up for one to five years.
Master's Merit Scholarship: As part of the institute’s commitment to program excellence, scholarships are available for full time Master’s degree enrollments. Scholarships will be given on an academic merit basis, as recommended by individual departments during the admissions process.
Graduate Assistantships:
Teaching Assistantships: TAs are appointed by their departments to assist in classrooms and labs, for which they receive an academic-year stipend and tuition waiver. All new TAs are required to attend TA Training.
Research Assistantships: RAs are appointed by their departments to conduct research, for which they receive an academic-year stipend and tuition waiver. RA funding may also be available during the summer term.
Graduate assistantships are a form of graduate student support that combines financial assistance, professional development, and service to the Institute's research and educational mission. Assistantships may be funded through departmental resources, research grants, or other institutional funding sources.
RPI's assistantships provide the same core appointment structure regardless of assistantship type (i.e. Graduate Research Assistants or Graduate Teaching Assistants):
- Appointment as a graduate assistant is supported by tuition remission and stipend.
- Expected work commitment averaging 20 hours per week during the appointment period.
- Graduate Assistants are requirement to maintain satisfactory academic progress.
- Graduate Assistants are requirement to maintain full-time graduate student status while completing degree requirements.
- Supervision by faculty and/or academic departments.
- Appointment continuation contingent upon funding availability and satisfactory performance.
- Professional development opportunities relevant to graduate education and future academic or professional careers.
Graduate Research Assistant (RA). The primary responsibility of a Graduate Research Assistant is to contribute to sponsored research, faculty research programs, scholarly projects, laboratory activities, and related research objectives. RAs support the research mission of the institution and often perform work connected to a faculty member's grant-funded project or research agenda. Typical Responsibilities:
- Conducting research for/under faculty supervision. For example, collecting, managing, and analyzing data; developing software, experiments, models, or laboratory procedures.
- Assisting with publications, reports, presentations, and grant-related deliverables.
- Maintaining research records and compliance requirements.
RA appointments are commonly funded through external grants, contracts, research centers, or faculty research funds. Continued availability of a specific RA appointment may depend on the needs, timelines, and funding requirements of the sponsored project.
Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA). The primary responsibility of a Graduate Teaching Assistant is to support instruction and student learning in undergraduate and/or graduate courses. TAs support the educational mission of the institution and assist faculty with teaching-related activities. Typical Responsibilities:
- Leading discussion sections, recitations, or laboratory sessions.
- Providing academic support to students.
- Assisting faculty with course preparation and assessment.
TA appointments are typically funded through departmental instructional budgets and are assigned based on teaching needs and course offerings.
Comparability of RA and TA Appointments
While RA and TA appointments involve different day-to-day duties, they are generally treated by the university as equivalent categories of graduate assistantships. Both provide the same financial support, require approximately the same level of effort, confer similar student status and benefits, and contribute to the student's professional development.
Over their time at RPI, graduate students may shift between fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships based on funding availability, research grant needs, instructional demand, and academic program requirements, but the student's funding package and graduate standing are maintained.
Loans:
Please refer to RPI's Financial Aid page for information on loans available to graduate students.
The information presented below is updated annually.
The stipend for all graduate programs is set each year by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation by the President. Stipends are reviewed each year and are based on the cost of living for a single adult in Rensselaer County. This cost of living includes expenses for housing, food, healthcare, transportation, and other (e.g. Internet, household and personal necessities, fees, etc.) All graduate students receiving stipends from the Institute, from contracts/grants, and from Institute administered external sources, must be paid the minimum stipend as established by the Institute. For AY26-27 the stipend for the academic year is $28,337 and $9,446 for the summer. Academic year and summer support is $37,783.
