Graduate Student Financial Aid

The Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering supports a substantial number of graduate students through fellowships and assistantships. It is in a student's best interest to be funded by means of a fellowship. Fellows can carry heavier course loads because there is no service requirement, and as a result, fellows can complete their degrees more quickly. Applicants for graduate assistantships are encouraged to apply for fellowships available outside Penn State. Any student offered a graduate assistantship but who declines the offer in favor of a fellowship will be re-offered the assistantship for a pro-rated amount of time if the fellowship tenure is not long enough to complete the program in which the student is enrolled. This re-offer is contingent upon the student’s satisfactory progress toward the degree.

Fellowships

There are many fellowships available for graduate study in Industrial Engineering. Most of these are available through agencies outside Penn State University. These include:

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships
National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowships
Office of Naval Research Graduate Fellowships
Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowships for Minorities
IBM Graduate Fellowship Program
W. K. Kellogg Foundation Fellowships
Institute of International Education Fellowships
U.S. Department of Energy Fellowships
U.S. Department of Defense Fellowships

There are, of course, eligibility requirements for these fellowships. Some are suggested in the titles. Some require U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status; others are open to international students. A student must apply for these fellowships directly to the funding agency, not to Penn State.

There are also fellowships available from Penn State's Graduate School, the College of Engineering and the Industrial Engineering Department. A student cannot directly apply for these fellowships, but must be nominated by the Industrial Engineering Department.

Assistantships

The department awards a limited number of assistantships. There are both teaching and research assistantships available. Students accepting teaching assistantships offered by the department are placed in a pool from which the department’s instructional needs will be met. Every effort will be made to match students with their choice of assignments but this cannot always be guaranteed. Research assistantships are hired by individual faculty members, based on the need and qualifications of the candidates. It should be noted that applications for graduate assistantships are not considered until admission has been granted by the Graduate School.

International applicants who wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship must present an acceptable score (250-300 or 55-60) on the Test of Spoken English (TSE). This test can be taken in many countries, or at Penn State after arrival.

A graduate assistant is responsible for carrying out laboratory teaching, grading, or research assignments. A half-time graduate assistant is required to spend 20 hours per week fulfilling these assignments starting one week before the first day of classes and ending after all final grades have been handed in by the instructor.

The length of time a student is allowed to hold an assistantship is as follows:

A M.S. student typically will be allowed three semesters.
Ph.D. student with a M.S. degree typically will be allowed six semesters.
A Ph.D. student with a B.S. degree typically will be allowed eight semesters.

The awarding of the assistantship from one semester to the next depends on the student making satisfactory progress toward his/her degree.

In order to be considered for an assistantship, a student must complete the department’s Application for a Graduate Assistantship and include it with his/her application materials.

Note: The Graduate Assistantship Application form requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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