Most, if not all, full-time graduate students receive merit-based financial awards. Assistantships provide a stipend and tuition.

The University of Delaware offers assistantships and fellowships to students with regular, full-time status and high academic standing. Recipients are eligible for coverage 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. The booklet, "A Guide to Student Health Services," is available from Student Health Services, with current details.)

Application for an assistantship, fellowship or 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.

Recipients of assistantships and fellowships are expected to give their full-time attention to graduate study and may not engage in any remunerative employment.

Teaching Assistantships
Teaching assistantships are awarded through the Department of Animal and Food Sciences in support of the instructional activities of the undergraduate and graduate programs. Teaching Assistantships are 9 month appointments from September through May. Teaching assistants are required to perform teaching and other instructional activities up to 20 hours each week during the Fall and Spring semesters. Students appointed as Teaching Assistants are expected to work on their own research for their thesis during the Summer. Students are generally paid during the Summer from research grant or contract funds obtained by their graduate advisor at a rate equal to their stipend during the Fall and Spring semesters.

Research Assistantships
Research assistantships are generally funded by research grants and contracts provided by external funding agencies. Research assistantships are 12 month appointments and require 20 hours of research each week. Research Assistants are expected to work on their assigned research projects as well as their own thesis research during the Fall and Spring semesters, Winter session and during the Summer as well.

Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants must be in good standing (maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 each semester) to retain their assistantship. To qualify for full-time status, assistants must enroll for a minimum of six graduate credit hours each semester, or as specified on the student's contractual agreement form. 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 Office of Graduate Studies for permission to maintain the student on an assistantship. A full-time assistant is normally appointed for up to twenty hours a week. Assistantships may be offered on a part-time basis with the appropriate prorated compensation (stipend and tuition).

Fellowships
The University-wide application deadline for these merit-based awards is February 1. Applicants are encouraged to apply early and to contact the major instructional department for additional application information and for deadlines earlier than February 1. The award is valid only for the term designated. Fellowships are awarded for up to one year at a time and fellows must be in good standing which means maintaining a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 (B average) each semester to continue to be eligible to hold the fellowship award. Master's students who receive fellowships and those doctoral students who have not been admitted to candidacy and who receive fellowships must be enrolled for a minimum of nine graduate credit hours each semester.

Competitive Fellowships
Departments and programs are invited to submit names and dossiers of their nominees to the Faculty Senate Committee on Graduate Studies for the annual competition for these awards. 

Presidential Awards
Departments and programs are invited to submit names and dossiers of under-represented minority student nominees to the Selection Committee. Awards are granted for one year. Students may be nominated for the award each year of their matriculation in the program. Presidential Awards may be either fellowships or assistantships.

Other Financial Aid 
Several sources of financial aid are available to graduate students through the assistance of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (phone (302) 831-8761). In order to be eligible for participation in the need-based programs (Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Work Study, and Federal Direct Loans), students must file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students should begin the application procedure in January or February for the fall semester. The completed FAFSA application is sent off campus for analysis and should be mailed by February 15 so that the processed application will be returned to the University by May 1. To be eligible for federal assistance, a graduate student must be enrolled for a minimum of 5 credit hours per semester. Foreign students are not eligible for these programs.