A&S: Financial Aid

Graduate assistantships, scholarships, and fellowships are available in many departments/programs for full-time regular (not provisional) graduate students. For details, applicants should write to the department/program. Application for aid should be made on the application form for admission to graduate study. Awards are made on the basis of merit. Graduate assistants work on average twenty hours a week or less during the academic year or the summer depending upon the stipend awarded. They must satisfactorily carry out the duties assigned by their departments/program committees, must make satisfactory progress in their degree programs as defined by the College degree requirements and the regulations of their departments or program committees, and may not hold any other employment or appointment of a remunerative nature during the term of their assistantships without approval of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Failure to comply with these conditions will lead to revocation of appointments. Approval from the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for additional employment/appointment of a remunerative nature of no more than 9 additional hours per week, will be based on supporting written statements from the student’s thesis/dissertation advisor and Director of Graduate Studies that the additional employment is not anticipated to adversely affect the student’s progress toward the degree. Such approval does not imply exemption by the Internal Revenue Service from Social Security and Medicare taxes. To ensure that their IRS status as students is maintained, students should consult the appropriate IRS documents and/or a tax advisor. It is the responsibility of international students to understand their visa restrictions before accepting on-campus or off-campus employment.

Summer stipend or fellowship funds administered through the Office of Graduate Studies and Research will not be approved for payment to new domestic graduate students (i.e., domestic students who have not been previously enrolled in their W&M graduate program) during the summer sessions (approximately June 1 - August 1) unless the student has been officially admitted to the W&M graduate program for the summer and is enrolled in a W&M summer course for zero or more graduate credits.

New international W&M graduate students who are required by their department to arrive more than 30 days before the first day of class must be admitted and enrolled as full-time W&M graduate students during the summer.

Fellowships and scholarships will be revoked if students fail to make satisfactory progress toward their degrees or fail to register as full-time students. Graduate assistants are normally paid in equal installments (minus deductions for federal and state withholding taxes and applicable federal social security taxes) on the first and sixteenth of each month. The portion of a graduate fellowship or scholarship applicable to a semester is initially applied to payment of tuition for that semester. Any amount remaining after payment of tuition may be refunded to the student. Students wishing to apply to student loans and work-study should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by February 15 (new students) or March 15 (returning students). Award letters will be sent in June. For more information, write to aid@wm.edu or visit the Financial Aid web site at http://www.wm.edu/financialaid/gradstudents.php.