Of the approximately 1,700 full-time graduate students, nearly 1,400 students receive merit-based financial aid awards. Fellowships, tuition scholarships, assistantships, and traineeships are awarded on the basis of merit from nominations by the department and do not normally require an analysis of financial need. Awards are granted to full-time students in good academic standing with regular status. 

The University-wide application deadline for these merit-based awards is March 1. Applicants are encouraged to apply early and to contact the major instructional department for additional application information and for deadlines earlier than March 1. The award is valid only for the term designated. 

Application for fellowship, tuition scholarship, or assistantship financial aid is a part of the admission application form and is made at the time of application. Admission application forms may be obtained either from the major instructional department or from the Office of Graduate Studies. Electronic application is possible using the WWW address: http://www.udel.edu/admissions/appinfo.html). 

Tuition scholarships provide full tuition but do not pay a stipend. They are awarded according to the same rules that govern eligibility for University fellowships. Tuition scholars can meet the requirement to maintain full-time status by enrolling in a minimum of six graduate credit hours per semester. Tuition scholars may accept remuneration for employment inside or outside of the University. Tuition scholars are covered by the University's graduate student Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan. (Coverage and student costs are subject to review each year by the insurance company and the University. Refer to "A Guide to Student Health Services" for current details.) 

Assistants must be in good standing (maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 each semester) to retain the assistantship. To qualify for full-time status, assistants must enroll for at least six graduate credit hours each semester. Occasionally a graduate student assistant may have fewer than six credits outstanding to complete his or her program. In such a case the department must petition the Graduate Office for permission to maintain the student on an assistantship. A full-time assistant is normally employed up to twenty hours a week and may not engage in any additional remunerative employment either inside or outside of the University during months when the student is working as an assistant. 

Assistantships may be offered on a part-time basis with the appropriate prorated compensation (stipend and tuition). There are four categories of assistantships: teaching assistantships, research assistantships, graduate assistantships, and tuition assistantships. The definition of these categories is provided below. In cases where a student's time and funding are divided between or among these categories, the student's classification will be determined on the basis of how the student is spending the preponderance of his or her time. 

Students may apply for positions as hall directors in student residence halls. These assistantships are available to men and women who are full-time graduate students with regular status. Both single-hall and double-hall positions are available. Experience working in residence halls or significant leadership or supervisory experience is required. 

Personal interviews with Residence Life staff are required for applicants for these positions. These interviews usually begin in early April. Students interested in residence hall assistantships should contact the Office of Residence Life, 5 Courtney Street, Newark, Delaware 19716 or call (302) 831-1201. 

Funds for industrial, endowed, and special fellowships are derived from sources outside the University. Industry, foundations, and private individuals have generously donated funds to support these special fellowships for graduate students at the University of Delaware. The stipends and supplemental allowances of these fellowships are not uniform but are based on the provisions specified by the donor. The holder of these fellowships may be required to pay tuition and fees depending on the terms of the fellowship. 

As an associate member of the Folger Institute of Renaissance and Eighteenth-Century Studies, the University of Delaware offers qualified graduate students in the humanities an opportunity to enroll in seminars and workshops at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. at no cost. These seminars, each limited to about twelve students from various institutions, continue for an entire semester and include such topics as "Milton and the Politics of the English Revolution," "Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Drama," "Medieval and Renaissance Origins of the Scientific Revolution," "Dante: A Reading of the Commedia," as well as studies in Shakespeare and the Elizabethans. They are offered by experts in the field from member institutions and by internationally known scholars from the United States and abroad especially invited by the Folger. Financial assistance each year is available to graduate students from Delaware to support travel to the seminars and to do research at the Library. A member of the University faculty serves on the Central Executive Committee that selects seminar members and awards the fellowships. 

UD­Hagley Fellowships are offered to students enrolled in the UD­Hagley Program in the history of industrialization, broadly defined to include economic, labor and social history as well as the history of technology. Students prepare for careers either in college teaching or public history. In addition to tuition and fees, each full fellowship provides an annual stipend. All students receiving such fellowships will teach two, three, or four semesters of their stay in the program, based upon the level at which a Fellow enters the program. 

Longwood Fellowships are provided under a grant from the Longwood Foundation, Inc. for up to a two-year period of study in the Longwood Graduate Program leading to the degree of Master of Science in public horticulture administration. A stipend of $11,385 for the first year may be renewed for a second year at $11,385 upon evidence of satisfactory progress toward the degree. In addition, the program pays tuition for four semesters and reasonable research and field trip expenses. 

Graduate fellowships have been established under the auspices of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum and the University for study in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. All admitted students receive a fellowship which provides full tuition, an annual stipend, and a travel allowance. Application for the program and these fellowships can only be made by applying to the program through the Director's office, 304 Old College, Newark, Delaware 19716. In order to be considered, all application materials, including the GRE scores, must be received no later than January 15 of the year for which admission is desired. Admission is by fellowship only. 

Scholarships are available on a competitive basis toward the University of Delaware Environmental Institution Management Course offered in winter session at the Delaware Nature Society's Ashland Nature Center. The 6-credit graduate course is open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students and postgraduate environmental science professionals. Course content includes budgeting and financial development, goal definition and long-range planning, personnel, public relations, building and grounds management, programming and teaching, and the conservation and preservation roles. For more information and scholarship applications, contact the Environmental Institution Management Coordinator, Delaware Nature Society, P.O. Box 700, Hockessin, Delaware 19707. 

The Delaware Nature Society offers graduate student internships. Training is offered in leadership, teaching, program design and coordination, and administration. With the approval of the major department, academic credits may be earned. The internship may also be continued for up to one year. To apply, a resume and college transcript should be sent to the Assistant Director for Education, Delaware Nature Society, P.O. Box 700, Hockessin, Delaware 19707. 

Your financial aid eligibility is based upon your cost of education (e.g., tuition, mandatory fees, room, board, books, and miscellaneous expenses). This cost of education represents actual costs incurred for the entire semester and is contingent upon completing that semester. When you officially withdraw, your cost of education must be analyzed. A Student Refund refers to the reduced cost of education that may result from your withdrawal from the institution prior to your completion of the given academic term. If a student refund is due to you, a portion of that refund must be returned to the student financial aid programs. The amount to be returned is determined by specific formulas. This computation may result in a reduction of your financial aid. 

In accordance with the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, the University of Delaware has instituted a pro-rata refund policy for students who are in their first semester of study and are recipients of Federal Title IV financial assistance. Pro-rata refunds are extended to those who qualify and who officially withdraw prior to the tenth week of class. For further information regarding the refund policy at the University of Delaware, contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid at (302) 831-8761. 

1. Completion of a graduate degree within five years of full-time attendance or its equivalent (a seven-year limit is provided for doctoral students entering without a master's degree),

 
2. a cumulative grade point average consistent with the requirements of the graduate division, and

 
3. successful completion of 67% of credit hours attempted.

Information on summer and part-time jobs both on campus and in the surrounding community is available in the Career Services Office through the Student Employment Service or on-line (http://www.udel.edu/CSC/career.html). Jobs that are federally funded through the College Work-Study Program are listed in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid  at (302) 831-8761.