The majority of graduate students receive some type of financial assistance. This support comes in the form of Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, Internships, and Fellowships. The Mathematics Department also administers a Research Scholars Program in Mathematics, funded by the National Science Foundation.

Teaching Assistantships.  The normal teaching assistantship (TA) is called a half-time teaching assistantship.  The TA typically teaches one course or two recitation sections each semester.  They take  9 hours of graduate course work a semester.    First-year TAs' duties require 8 - 12 hours work per week. This rises to 10 - 14 hours per week for TAs beyond the first year, who tutor two hours per week in the Mathematics Department tutoring center.  TAs must have 18 hours graduate course credit before they can teach a course.  Until they have enough graduate hours and training, TA duties consist of assisting in labs, holding recitation sections, and assisting faculty.   TAs receive training before entering the classroom.

The current academic year salary for a regular TA is $13,000 to $17,500 depending on status. Entering PhD students receive $15,500. There are $1,000 steps when the written qualifying examinations and the preliminary oral examinations are passed. For the last several years all mathematics department TAs who were in good standing, and requested it, have received summer support for assisting in a 5 1/2 week summer school session. Depending on duties and experience this pays an additional $2,000 to $4,000. This brings total TA salaries to $15,500 to $21,500. There are also summer research stipends and fellowships that some TAs are eligible for.

Research Assistantships. On a research assistantship (RA) the student is paid to work on a research project with a faculty member.  RAs normally take a 9 hour course load.  In most cases their project is directly related to their thesis work so the RA has more time to devote to research.   Research assistantships are paid from individual faculty research grants.   RAs are paid at least the rate for half-time TAs and are often paid more.  Currently RA annual salaries range from $18,000 to $30,000.  Some students receive RAs upon entering the graduate program.  Many more students move from TAs to RAs as they progress through the program and choose advisors and research topics.

Internships.  Some students become involved in research projects which involve spending some time, usually during the summer, at a corporation or research institute.  During this period they might be paid as an RA or they might be an intern.  If they are an intern, then the salary is determined by the host institution.  It is usually much higher that an RA rate sometimes reaching as high as $5,000 a month plus expenses.

Fellowships.  A fellowship provides money to the student without any required duties.  They range from supplemental fellowships which add funds to the stipend to fellowships that pay $22,000 - $30,000 a year.  Some students arrive with fellowships previously awarded, sometimes students apply and earn fellowships once they are at NC State.  A large number of different kinds of fellowships are awarded every year but the numbers, types, application dates, and amount varies greatly. Announcements will be emailed to all graduate students when each fellowship begins receiving applications. Printed announcements are available in the mailroom. Additional information can be found at the Graduate School Page.
    
Financial Aid. The TAs, RAs, and most fellowships are based on merit and not need. There is some need based support but it comes from the Graduate school and not the department.

All supported and partially supported graduate students receive free health insurance and free tuition. They pay only student fees of approximately $512 per semester. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are encouraged to qualify for North Carolina residency by the start of their second year at NC State since this can sometimes prove beneficial to the student.