Funding for ECE Graduate Students

Fellowships, teaching assistantships (TA), and research assistantships (RA) are offered to highly qualified students at the time of admission. Applicants seeking possible funding are cautioned that successful applicants have qualifications that far exceed the minimum/average requirements of GPA and language proficiency scores.
 
Many students are able to find assistantships or paid positions once they arrive on campus.

TA Positions

Teaching assistants (TAs) assist faculty with instructional responsibilities. These positions include tuition coverage, medical insurance, and salary. 
 
Each semester, an ECE TA survey will be distributed by email to all current ECE students to recruit candidates for ECE TA positions for the following semester. 
 

Incoming students: Note that incoming students do not have access to this TA survey, but you will have access once you are an active ECE student.

Please do not reach out to ECE faculty about TA positions as TA positions are made centrally by our associate head of teaching and learning.

Other TA job postings: Check the ECE Announcements webpage for TA position postings.  

Language proficiency requirements for TAs:

Since the language of instruction is English, only those with good oral and written English communication skills are acceptable for ECE TA positions.

For international students: TA certified students will be given priority for ECE TA positions.

  • TA certified: To be TA certified, you must meet one of the following criteria:
  • Not TA certified: TOEFL score is below 27 or IELTS score is less than 8.
  • To become TA certified: You must meet one of the methods of oral English proficiency described on this webpage: Methods of Oral English Proficiency Certification.

Contact Elisheba Van Winkle in ECE with questions about the TA certification process. 

TA positions in other departments: 

Other departments also hire ECE graduate students:  

RA Positions

Research assistants (RAs) assist faculty with research. These positions include tuition coverage, medical insurance, and salary. Individual professors, both in ECE and in other areas, hire RAs. 

Tips for finding an RA position:

  • Search Faculty By Area of Interest to identify the faculty members who are active in your research field.  A brief description of their research will be in their profile, but many faculty have links to their personal website with more depth regarding their research.
  • Identify professors whose research interests match your background and interests. Be aware that some faculty will not have funding available to take on new students.
  • Once you have identified faculty who may be a good match, take some time to read recent publications to become familiar with their research.
  • Arrange a meeting to discuss research with the faculty member. The goal is to determine if you and the faculty member would be a good research match.
  • You may follow the same process with faculty from outside ECE.  There are some faculty in other schools who have courtesy appointments in ECE and can be the PhD supervisor for an ECE student.  Other faculty can co-advice with an ECE faculty member.
  • Check the ECE Announcements webpage for postings about RA positions. 

Hourly Positions

International students are eligible to hold hourly positions on campus. See this website for student jobs at Purdue: Student Jobs at Purdue