Stipends & Assistantships

BISI offers doctoral students continuing support in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, and/or research assistantships.

Master’s students are Step I. Pre-candidacy PhD students are Step II. The 12-month stipend may vary depending on the source of support; but will not be less than $33,365. Doctoral candidates (successful completion of qualifying exam) become Step III ($34,003), so you can expect your stipend to increase after that milestone toward your degree.

ANNUAL GRADUATE ASSISTANT (PhD) STIPENDS BEGINNING Fall 2023

Step II - $34,718

Step III - $35,384

Please note this stipend includes academic year (Fall + Spring semesters) and summer (Summer I and Summer II terms) support.

The BISI stipend is higher than the University of Maryland’s minimum stipend level for graduate assistantships. BISI students must earn at least the minimum required stipend for their step (above).

Teaching Assistantships

All BISI graduate students should complete the semester support form to indicate if you have external funding or a research assistantship.

If you are requesting a teaching assistantship for the upcoming semester, you can request a full-time (18-20 hrs/week) or half-time (9-10 hrs/week) appointment. This form is automatically emailed to all BISI graduate students. The email arrives in October for Spring TAs and in April for Fall TAs.

In addition to earning a stipend, full-time assistantship includes tuition remission (up to 10 credits per semester) and participation in the University of Maryland’s employee’s health benefits program. Tuition remission only covers the standard graduate tuition rate during the assistantship. Students enrolled in courses at the non-standard rate are responsible for the difference. Tuition remission does not cover mandatory fees.

Assignment Process

  1. Students complete TA Assignment Request form

  2. All instructional teams receive a list of students interested in becoming a TA for their course. Instructors identify their top choices.

  3. Students are assigned while considering a combination of student choice, instructor choice, and assignment priority.

  4. Students decline or accept their offer to TA. Students who cannot be accommodated receive a waitlist notification.

EXTERNAL FELLOWSHIPS

If you are awarded an external fellowship that provides a stipend but does not provide tuition remission, you may be eligible for tuition award from The Graduate School.

Students on external fellowships are not considered university employees and cannot participate in the University of Maryland’s employee’s health benefits program. However, you may be eligible for Health Insurance reimbursement from the Graduate School.