Costs and fees for the graduate studies program

Estimated student expenses for the 2010-11 academic year, consisting of three academic terms, are as follows

• Tuition 2012-2013 $38,313 ($12,771 per term) Tuition and fees are the best available estimates at the time of posting. These are subject to change.
• In addition to the above expenses, books and supplies will cost approximately $1,500 for the academic year. These items may be purchased in the campus bookstore, a non-profit service operated for the benefit of students. Also, students may elect to participate in the Student Accident and Health Insurance Program.

Summer fees
Students doing work during the summer which requires any effort on the part of a faculty member shall register for the appropriate number of course and/or research credits and be assessed the usual registration fee and/or tuition at an hourly or quarterly rate.

Continuing enrollment fee
A student must be a registered student during the term in which they take their final examination, submit a thesis/research/project report, and/or complete all degree requirements. Any student who has completed his or her thesis or project research credit hours and is not required to register for any additional course credit must register for GRAD505 (Graduate Enrollment). Registration for GRAD505 will permit a student to take the final examination or defend a thesis, submit a thesis/research/project report, and receive a degree. A student who has not been continuously registered during their program must request and receive, in writing, approval of the advisory chair and the Associate Dean of the Faculty in order to register. The fee for GRAD505 is $100 per quarter.

Financial Assistance

In general, Rose-Hulman has three types of financial aid available to graduate students: Graduate Assistantships, Research Assistantships, Tuition Grants, and Loans. In awarding financial aid, preferences will be given to students who do not have any outside support.

        Graduate Assistantship (GA)

Graduate Assistantships ($3,000/quarter stipend) are awarded to selected, new (incoming), eligible, full-time, students for three quarters of their first academic year by the Associate Dean of the Faculty upon recommendation of the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC).  All GA recipients must maintain a GPA ≥ 3.5 and be enrolled in a thesis-based MS (TBM) degree program in order to automatically renew their GAs for the first academic year. Thereafter, students must apply for Graduate Assistantships quarterly until completion of their degree program (See application deadlines below). Tuition grants are included with the GA award. Graduate Assistantship applications will be reviewed quarterly by the Graduate Studies Committee which will determine GA recipients. Students should not expect graduate assistantships awards beyond the fourth quarter of graduate study. Graduate Assistantships are awarded for an entire quarter and no student should request an assistantship if she/he will not be available for the entire quarter. To remain eligible to receive a GA, students must make satisfactory progress toward their degree and maintain at least a 3.5 GPA as shown in Table 1.

 A graduate assistant is expected to perform duties as assigned by the department concerned. These typically require 12 to 15 hours of service per week. Graduate academic work, together with an assistantship, requires a full-time effort. As 12 credit hours per quarter is a full-time load for a graduate assistant (exceptions are applied to graduate students who are offered GAs by Student Affairs where 8 credit hours will be considered a full-load), students receiving graduate assistantships should not accept additional outside employment. Exceptions must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee in advance of the term for which financial aid is requested. Additionally, approval from the advisory committee chair and the Associate Dean of the Faculty is required for any academic loads above 16 credit hours.

Research Assistantships (RA) are awarded to full-time students by the faculty members with funded projects who will be directing the student’s research work. Students receiving an RA are not to accept any additional employment. Research Assistantships are renewed at the discretion of the faculty member upon satisfactory performance by students in research and in the classroom (GPA ≥ 3.5).

Eligible students in the project-based MS in Engineering Management (MSEM) program will receive a GA in their second year of studies upon the recommendation by the Engineering Management department and the GSC. Furthermore, these MSEM students will only be eligible for a maximum of three quarters of GA for their duration of study. Graduate students enrolled in Course-based MS (CBM) are not eligible to receive GAs.

 Table 1. Graduate Assistant (GA) based on GPA for full-time on-campus graduate students

      Tuition Grant (TG) for full-time on-campus students

TGs are awarded by the Associate Dean of the Faculty upon the recommendation of the Graduate Studies Committee. Tuition Grants (including discounted TGs) are offered to students employed less than 20 hours per week to cover tuition up to 18 credit hours per term. Tuition grants will be awarded to eligible, full-time, new, incoming students for a maximum of five consecutive quarters of graduate study. As long as a student is making satisfactory progress toward his/her degree and maintains a GPA of 3.5 or above, his/her tuition grant (100% discounted for TBM and 40% discounted for CBM) will remain effective through the above-mentioned five quarters. Students whose GPAs fall below 3.50 will be notified by the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) that their tuition grants will be adjusted according to the pro-rated tuition grant policy given in Table 2.

 Table 2. Tuition Grant discount rate based on GPA for all full-time on-campus graduate students

Students initially admitted on probation may apply for a tuition grant once they have completed 12 credit hours of the graduate level courses and achieved at least a 3.0 GPA in said courses. Students admitted to the graduate program while working simultaneously on their undergraduate coursework are not eligible to receive financial assistance from the OGS. Once such students have completed their undergraduate program, they may apply for financial assistance to GSC. See application deadlines below.

Students that wish to switch from a TBM to a CBM must do so before the start of their 4^th quarter of graduate study.  Students that switch from a TBM to a CBM will be retro-actively billed as a CBM student for the quarters that they were a TBM student according to the discount rates prescribed in Table 2.  There are no financial ramifications for students transferring from CBM to TBM program, but all said policies for TBM program will be applicable for the remainder of their study. All financial aid is forfeited by a student changing major and/or program. The student must notify the OGS and reapply for financial aid to the Graduate Studies Committee.

     Financial Aid Deadlines  

               The following GA deadlines apply to all full-time on-campus graduate students. The request forms are available online for the interested qualified students (see section 1.0 above).

• Fall quarter GA:                first Friday of first week of prior spring quarter
• Winter quarter GA:            first Friday of first week of prior fall quarter
• Spring quarter GA:            first Friday of first week of prior winter quarter

Any full-time on-campus student requiring a sixth quarter TG must submit a request to the Associate Dean of the Faculty by the first Friday of first week of the fifth quarter.

      Tuition Grant for part-time and/or off-campus students in Engineering Management and Software Engineering Programs

Graduate students are considered part-time students when they are enrolled in less than 12 credit-hours per quarter (exceptions are applied to graduate students with GA from Student Affairs). Therefore, part-time students are not eligible for the similar financial benefits of full-time, on-campus students. Part-time graduate students in MEM, MSEM, and MSSE programs are not eligible to receive GAs and their TG discount is based on their GPA as indicated in the Table 3 given below.

Table 3. Tuition Grant discount rate based on GPA for all part-time graduate students   

        Loans

Student loans are available and administered by the Office of Financial Aid. Contact the Financial Aid office for more information.

       Army Reserve scholarships

In addition to the above, Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) two-year scholarships are available for students who wish to earn an Army officer's commission while pursuing a graduate degree. These valuable scholarships provide money toward tuition, books, and living expenses. Programs are available to assist students with prior military service or those with no military experience. Students should contact the Department of Military Science for scholarship requirements.

Student refunds and return of financial aid funds

Institutional charges
Any student who voluntarily withdraws from the Institute prior to the end of the sixth week of enrollment is entitled to a pro-rata refund of charges (tuition, room, board) billed for that term. Technology fees, student activity fees, residence hall association fees, and insurance premiums are not refundable. Students withdrawing during the first week of the term will receive 100% of the refundable charges. Students withdrawing after the first week will be refunded as listed below. An administration fee of $100 for the withdrawal from the Institute and any unbilled balances associated with the laptop computer will be added to the student's account. Following the refund calculation, the student is responsible for payment of any unpaid charges to the Institute or any unearned financial aid within 30 days of their departure.

Return of Title IV Funds
Rose-Hulman is required to return a pro-rata share of any unearned Federal Title IV funds to the Department of Education. Federal Title IV financial aid includes Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and the Federal Pell Grant. The amount returned is based on the percentage of enrollment completed and is calculated by dividing the number of calendar days completed by the total number of calendar days in the quarter. If this percentage is greater than 60 percent, no Title IV funds will be returned to the Department of Education and the student will retain 100 percent of this aid to offset expenses. If the percentage is less than 60 percent, the unearned portion (100 percent minus the calculated percentage) will be returned to the Department of Education. The amount returned will show up as a charge on the student's account. These funds will be returned in the following order as prescribed by federal regulations:

1. Federal Direct Stafford Loans (Unsubsidized)
2. Federal Direct Stafford Loans (Subsidized)
3. Federal Perkins Loan
4. Federal Direct Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
5. Federal Pell Grants
6. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
7. Any other Title IV funds

Return of institutional and other financial aid
All other forms of financial aid will be returned in a manner consistent with Federal Title IV regulations. The amount returned will be based on the percentage of enrollment completed and will be calculated by dividing the number of calendar days completed by the number of calendar days in the quarter. If this percentage is greater than 60 percent, no financial aid will be returned and the student will retain 100 percent of this aid to offset expenses. If the percentage is less than 60 percent, the unearned portion (100 percent minus the calculated percentage) will be returned to each appropriate source of funding. The amount returned will show up as a charge on the student's account.

Change to part-time status during a term
When a student withdraws from a course but continues as a part-time student (fewer than eight quarter hours), the tuition refund shall be the difference between the initial billing and the revised billing multiplied by the unearned portion of the quarter. This percentage will be calculated by dividing the number of calendar days completed by the number of calendar days in the quarter and subtracting this number from 100 percent. If the calculated percentage is greater than 60 percent, the student will not be entitled to a reduction in tuition. Students who drop below half-time during this refund period will have all financial aid removed with the exception of the Federal Pell Grant. If a student continues to be enrolled for at least six credit hours and is eligible, the student may retain a portion of the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, State funds and RHIT institutional funds.

Please contact the Graduate Studies office with any questions: (812) 877-8403.