University of South Florida

Ph.D. GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
Financial Support

Graduate Assistants

The department awards graduate assistantships annually. Doctoral students are usually given one-year contracts that are renewable for up to four years. If an applicant wishes to be considered for a graduate assistantship position, he or she should complete the Graduate Assistantship Application and send it to the Geography and ESP Doctoral Program Coordinator along with other application materials. Graduate assistantships are awarded based upon grade point average, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, student area of interest, and prior experience.

Graduate assistants in the Geography and ESP Doctoral Program are under the direct supervision of the Chair of Geography and the Graduate Program Directors of the respective units, who assign the specific duties to the students. Typically students are required to teach one section of an introductory-level course, or to supervise/instruct laboratory or discussion sections that are linked to courses that are instructed by faculty members.  In addition to the general supervision provided by the department chairs and graduate program directors, the student will also be assigned a faculty supervisor.

The current salary for doctoral-level graduate assistants is $13,000 for a nine-month contract that runs from early August to mid-May. Applicants with a combined verbal and quantitative GRE score above 1250 and a GPA above 3.6 for his/her Masters Degree may be awarded a Dean's Scholarship that would increase the stipend to $15,000.  Additional funding via summer school instruction is sometimes possible depending on the teaching needs of the Geography Department and Environmental Science and Policy Program. Doctoral Graduate Assistant positions also carry an 80% waiver of tuition for up to 12 hours per semester.

Research Assistants

Research assistants are students who are hired to assist faculty with grant-funded projects. Students hired as Project Assistants will complete, for example, computer analysis, cartography, fieldwork, and/or laboratory analysis related to the project. Students may be hired on salary or on an hourly basis. The rate of pay varies from project to project. Students are selected for these positions based upon the skills needed for individual projects. These positions may, or may not provide a tuition waiver.

Other Financial Support

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Florida Center for Community Design and Research (FCCDR) sometimes hire Geography Department graduate students. Students may submit applications for employment at these offices. In addition, part-time and full-time jobs that become known to the department are posted on the bulletin board outside of the department office (NES 201).

Fellowships

Fellowships are funds received by the student for which no work is required. A listing of potential fellowships can be found at the Graduate Studies website at http://www.grad.usf.edu/newsite/fellowships.asp.

Scholarships, Grants, Work Study, and Loans

The Graduate School houses a Scholarship Library that allows students to access information on private sources of funding through computerized databases as well as source books.

The Office of Financial Aid administers the Federal Work Study Program as well as several loan programs. Students interested in loans or work study should apply as soon as possible after January 1 each year for the coming academic year, which starts in August. Application packets are available outside the Office of Financial Aid (SVC 1102) or by calling (813) 974-4700.