Costs and Financial Assistance

See the website of the Office of Budget and Planning for the most current information about resident & non-resident Tuition and Fees for Regular and Summer Terms. Be aware that the LSU Board of Supervisors may modify fees, board, and/or housing rates at any time without advance notice.

Graduate Assistantships

The Department offers a number of graduate assistantships to qualified students. Ordinary assistantships involve research, teaching assistance, and/or service under the supervision of one or more faculty members. Graduate assistance is limited to a total of 6 semesters (excluding possible summer support). Many students remain funded afterward either with research assistantships or teaching assistantships.

Research assistantships that come from grant funds are supervised by the faculty member offering the assistantship and may include summer support. (Separate applications are not required for these forms of financial assistance.)

Teaching assistantships are available for students past 3-year limit, and they usually involve teaching independent sections of courses. Summer or Intersession teaching assistantships may be available.

Continuation of assistantship funding depends on timely progress, defined by the milestones described under Graduate Course Requirements.

Graduate School Fellowships and Scholarships

The Graduate School offers a number of different fellowships and scholarships to exceptional and superior students. Among these are Graduate School Enhancement Awards ($5,000/year), Graduate School Supplement Awards ($3,000/year), Graduate School Dissertation Fellowships, Huel D. Perkins Fellowship/Doctoral Fellowships (for qualified students who contribute to diversity of the student population), and Board of Regents Graduate Fellowships. These are highly competitive, offer exceptional support, and are designed to compete for the top candidates in the nation. Upon receiving promising candidates, the Director of Graduate Studies will make nominations for these awards.

Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance

Graduate Assistants and other fellowship recipients are exempt from tuition but still have to pay university fees. Students who are not on an assistantship or fellowship must pay the tuition and fees themselves.

Graduate Assistants and fellowship recipients are also eligible for the premium assistance program for Student Health Insurance.