Ph.D. Program in Finance

Financial Assistance

Assistantships

The finance department has ten assistantship positions available to Ph.D. students. Usually 2-3 assistantships become available for new students each year (for instance, as students currently on assistantship graduate and leave the program). Students who wish to apply for an assistantship should fill out the Rawls College of Business assistantship application form. Assistantships are generally available to doctoral students in good academic standing for a period of four years. Continuation of the assistantship during the four-year period is contingent upon the student making satisfactory progress toward his/her degree.

Assistantships are currently $14,050 per academic year (9 months) for half-time service (20 hours a week). A summer stipend of 1/6th of the 9-month stipend will be offered when funds are available, resulting in total annual funding of $16,392. Part of the $14,050 (or $16,392) is your salary compensation and part is to help pay for your share of health insurance, if the student desires to purchase health insurance. (International students are required to purchase health insurance.)

Award of an assistantship also allows the student to be classified as "in-state." In-state tuition for 13 hours (a typical load for a semester) is approximately $3,700 as of Spring 2009. However, award of an assistantship also waives certain fees (student services, medical services, student union fee, designated tuition, information technology fee, library fee, rec center fee, and the athletic fee) bringing the tuition and fees for Ph.D. students on assistantship to about $1,500 a semester. Note: Ph.D. students can also receive a refund for a portion of their BA Graduate Tuition fee. This refund is not automatic. To receive this refund, you should get a detailed summary of your tuition and fee payment and then see Frank Komarek in the Dean's office, who will process the refund.

Doctoral Scholarships

At the recommendation of the Finance Department and approval by the Rawls College of Business, we award Rawls Doctoral scholarships to outstanding incoming and continuing doctoral students. A scholarship award for incoming students is based on the strength of the application. Continuation of the scholarship in subsequent years is contingent upon the student making satisfactory progress toward his/her degree. Scholarships typically range from $1,000 to $3,000 per year.

There are a number of other university-wide scholarships available. For instance, the university funds about 50 students in the amount of $2,300 in the Summer Dissertation/Thesis Research award. Since the award is a scholarship, the student can continue to be on assistantship for the summer (and thus receive funding from both the assistantship and the award). Part-time graduate students can apply for the Helen DeVitt Jones Part-Time Graduate Student Scholarship. These scholarships are $400 per semester for up to three semesters. (We require our Ph.D. students to be enrolled as full-time students through 90 doctoral hours. Thus, eligibility for this part-time student scholarship would be limited to students who have completed 90 hours, or in other special circumstances.) For information on other awards and scholarships, see http://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/scholarships/index.php.

Travel Stipends

The graduate school budgets $100,000 for graduate student travel. In addition, the Finance Department is allocated $7,500 a year by the Rawls College of Business to finance student travel to conferences and research related expenses.

Some conferences also provide travel funds on a competitive basis. For example, the American Finance Association will award 120 travel grants of $1,500 each to doctoral students to help defray costs of attending the 2010 AFA meetings. The Financial Management Association also offered 20 travel grants of $500 each to attend the 2008 FMA meetings and will most likely offer travel grants for the 2009 conference. The FMA also offers low priced memberships ($30 a year) to Ph.D. students.

Note: there are special reporting requirements for university reimbursed travel. Be sure that you fill out the appropriate paperwork check with Kim Brannon in the deans office if you have questions.