Assistantships & Funding

Graduate education can be costly but the College of Design and Iowa State University offer several opportunities to reduce students’ expenses. These opportunities include assistantships, scholarships, grants, and on-campus employment.

All applicants are automatically considered for College of Design departmental assistantships and scholarships when all application materials are received by their program’s priority deadline. No additional application is needed. In order to reduce costs for as many applicants as possible, applicants will receive either an assistantship, scholarship, or neither, but not both funding types.

While funding opportunities exist, no College of Design awards will cover the full cost of attendance to Iowa State University. Please see expected costs before applying.

Departmental Assistantships

Quarter-time departmental assistantships (GAs) may be offered to our top applicants in many of our graduate degree programs. In exchange for 10 hours of work per week in either a teaching, research, or administrative role, graduate assistants receive:

• Iowa resident tuition rates
• A 25-50% tuition scholarship (50% for terminal degrees; 25% for nonterminal degrees)
• Monthly stipend (10 months)
• Health insurance coverage
• A reduction in some student fees

Most graduate assistants keep their positions for duration of their degree program once awarded as long as they are progressing successfully through the program, meeting the needs of the position, and as long as budgets permit. Graduate students may not hold more than one assistantship in the College of Design. Assistantships must be filled each year as there is work to do and therefore cannot be deferred.

Departmental Merit Scholarships

Each College of Design department is provided scholarship funds to recruit their top candidates. For the 2023-2024 academic year, each department can offer the following:

• Four Iowa resident scholarships of $2000 each
• Four non-resident scholarships in the amount of $16206 each

Merit scholarships apply to the applicant’s first year of study and are non-renewable. Due to scholarships’ ties to the fiscal year budget, scholarships cannot be deferred.

Additional Funding Sources

Students who are not awarded a departmental assistantship may seek assistantship opportunities elsewhere on campus. Graduate students are limited to 20 hours per week of on-campus work or up to half-time assistantship coverage.

Please visit the Graduate College site for additional funding Information.