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The University of New Mexico

Financial Aid

An MS degree in geography is a good investment, and we invest in our students.  We currently fund about 90% of the graduate students in our program through a variety of paid assistantships and scholarships.  There are also many financial aid resources available at UNM to support graduate research projects.

 

Assistantships

The department has a number of Teaching and Research Assistantships. TA positions typically require 20 hours of work per week which consist of teaching sections of introductory courses, meeting with students, and assisting professors with their courses. Remuneration is approximately $1,360 per month and includes full tuition waiver up to 9 credit hours and health benefits. Typical TA appointments are for an academic year from late August to early May. Limited TA possibilities exist in the Summer semester. RA positions are typically funded from research grants and RAs work in direct collaboration with one or more faculty. Conditions for RA positions vary but generally have the same terms as TA positions. TA and RA positions are very competitive. When applying to the program you should indicate if you would like to be considered for a TA or RA position

Other Financial Support Options

Administered by the Department of Geography

• Tuition scholarships. The department has a limited number of tuition waivers for in–state students. All eligible students enrolled in or starting our graduate program will automatically be considered for this scholarship and there is no need to apply. Scholarships are located in the Summer for the upcoming academic year.

Administered by others:

• OGS Fellowships and Scholarships. Administered by the Office of Graduate Studies.
Details at:www.unm.edu/grad/indices/index_funding.html.

• Fellowships administered by the Graduate and Professional Student Association at UNM.
Details at: http://gpsa.unm.edu/application-forms.

• Research Projects and Travel (RPT) Grants. Administered by the Office of Graduate Studies.
Details at http://www.unm.edu/grad/funding/rpt.html.

• Jesse Rossbach Memorial Scholarship. Administered by the New Mexico Geographic Information
Council.
Details at: http://nmgic.com/jrmsch.

• NMGIC”s SWUG Scholarship. Administered by the New Mexico Geographic Information Council.
Details at: http://nmgic.com/swugsch.