Various awards, assistantships, and fellowships funded by the Graduate School are available to a limited amount of new and current graduate students at New Mexico State University. Please contact your department to get more information regarding these opportunities, as most awards are department-based, with nominations taken for those awards having available spaces for new awardees.
Funding Opportunities
The Graduate School offers the chance of awards, assistantships, and fellowships to qualified graduate students. All of our Graduate School-funded awards require faculty nominations, and the nomination window each year is in the spring, with students chosen to receive Graduate School support announced in May.
Current students and admitted students can request program faculty members or the department head to nominate them for the awards of the Graduate School, but faculty are not required to nominate a student who has asked to be nominated. The awards are by faculty nomination only and are not available for self-nomination or peer-to-peer nomination.
The “Call for Nominations” is sent to Department Heads, Associate Deans for Academics, and Graduate Program Directors. Graduate students also are notified that the nomination window is open via a post in the graduate students’ listserv.
Below is a summary of those awards. Not every award has open spaces each year, as some are multi-year awards and function as “cohort”-type awards.
Not all students will be chosen for a Graduate School-funded award, even if they have a 4.0 GPA, have published papers, or have other scholarly and community achievements.
Some awards carry both tuition help and either a 20-hour per week or 10-hour per week graduate assistantship, but some have only one of the two components.
Overview: Graduate Assistantships
Most graduate assistantships offered by New Mexico State University are awarded by the student’s academic department and are not funded via the Graduate School awards. We suggest that you contact your department of study to receive information on their graduate assistantships, fellowships, and internships. The student must be admitted to the Graduate School before a request for an assistantship or fellowship will be considered by the department or the Graduate School.
The university limits the number of years a student may be supported on funds from the state of New Mexico. A student should check the Graduate Assistant Employment Guidelines of the Graduate School for more information. Departments may place additional limitations on the years of support.
- Funding Opportunities for NMSU Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars
Click on the link above to view all of the Funding Opportunities for NMSU Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars through the Research Administration Services. Restrictions, deadlines, and explanations are available for each funding opportunity.
Awards Available That Are Administrated by the Graduate School
- Stipend-type Awards
- Merit-based Enhancement Fellowships for Current Graduate Assistants:
To help departments reward outstanding graduate assistants, the Graduate School offers Merit-Based Enhancement Fellowships to graduate assistants who are engaged in the teaching or research mission of New Mexico State University. The amount of the award is $5,000 for an academic year, with $2,500 disbursed over the course of each semester. The award functions as a “stipend” and is incrementally added to a student’s paychecks by the Payroll Department.
Nominations must come from faculty and are turned in to the Graduate School during the Call for Nominations period each spring.
This award is for current graduate assistants only (not new or entering students) and is for one academic year.
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Outstanding Graduate Assistantship Award:
We also offer Outstanding Graduate Assistant awards of $3,125 for each fall and spring semester ($6,250 per academic year) to recognize the contributions of graduate assistants to the teaching and research mission of New Mexico State University. The awards allow faculty to show appreciation for the excellent work of graduate assistants. This award is not open to incoming graduate students: Current (not new) graduate assistants must be nominated by their faculty to be considered for the awards. The amount of the award is $6,250 for an academic year, with $3,125 disbursed over the course of each semester. The award functions as a “stipend” and is incrementally added to a student’s paychecks by the Payroll Department.
Note: This award is for current graduate students only and is for one academic year’s duration. This award is not associated with the similarly named “Outstanding Graduate Student” non-monetary award offered by the NMSU Alumni Association.
- Merit-based Enhancement Fellowships for Current Graduate Assistants:
- Awards Featuring A Graduate Assistantship and A Tuition Award
- Coverdell/Peace Corps Award:
This award is for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV) only and features a 0.25 (10 hours per week) graduate assistantship and a $2,590 tuition award per fall and spring semesters. Please see this link for more information: COVERDELL
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Diversity Scholarship:
The Diversity Scholarship features a tuition award of $2,500 per fall and spring semester and a 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) graduate assistantship. Students must be enrolled full time, have a 3.0 GPA or greater, and be in good academic standing. The student can be employed as a TA, RA, or GA Miscellaneous position. Up to one student per academic college may be funded.
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First Year Women AND Non-white Minorities in Doctoral Studies Award:
This scholarship features a tuition award of $2,500 per fall and spring semester and 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) graduate assistantship, for a period of up to four years: Student must be enrolled full time, be in an underrepresented class as noted in the name of the award, have a 3.0 GPA or greater, be enrolled in a doctoral program, and be in good standing. As this is a “continuing” award, it is not always included in the Call for Nominations.
- Coverdell/Peace Corps Award:
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Awards Featuring A Graduate Assistantship Only
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Preparing Future Faculty (PFF):
The PFF, or Preparing Future Faculty Award, is a .25 (10 hours per week) graduate assistantship. No tuition award is associated with the PFF. Awardees can combine the assistantship with another 0.25 FTE (10 hours per week) TA from a different funding source, such as their department. Students must be enrolled full-time, have a 3.0 GPA or greater, be involved in the teaching mission of NMSU, and be in good standing.
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Awards Featuring Tuition Help Only
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New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) “Continuing” Award:
This State-based award is tuition help of $3,600 per semester and does not have a graduate assistantship component. It is a multi-year award and does not always feature in the Call for Nominations process, as all spaces may be filled. Priority goes to New Mexico residents. You must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident to be eligible. Master’s program students: 2-year award. MFA: 3-year award. Doctoral Students: 4-year award. Students must have 3.0 or greater GPA, be enrolled full-time in a graduate program, be working a minimum 0.25 FTE (10 hours per week) graduate assistantship and be in good standing. Awards do not cover summer sessions.
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Looking for information about the NMHED STEM or GA Union awards?
Please see this link to view the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and its December 2023 Addendum: CBA AWARDING
More Details About Graduate Assistantships
Graduate assistantships in teaching and research are available primarily through the department in which the student is enrolled. As noted above, there are several Graduate School-funded awards that feature an assistantship as well. Eligibility for teaching assistantships includes
- Acceptance by and subsequent registration in the Graduate School and academic department,
- Classification as a “regular” graduate student,
- Enroll in and successfully complete nine graded credit hours each semester
- Maintain a 3.0 grade-point average.
Graduate students accepted on a provisional basis cannot serve as Teaching Assistants. However, they can serve as research assistants. Eligibility includes
- Acceptance by and subsequent registration in the Graduate School and academic department,
- Classification as a “provisional” graduate student,
- Enrollment in and successfully completing nine graded credits hours,
- Funded on research projects of the faculty of NMSU.
A student seeking an appointment as a teaching assistant will be required to demonstrate proficiency in communication skills necessary for satisfactory service in the classroom. All graduate students given an assistantship must attend a mandatory orientation offered by the Graduate School. Departments may also require students to complete workshops/orientations in order to qualify for assistantships.
All international students seeking a teaching assistantship must demonstrate proficiency in English and competency in pedagogy. Prior to the first semester in which the teaching assistantship is to be received, international students must undergo the NMSU International Teaching Assistant (ITA) screening administered by the English Department on behalf of the Graduate School. Students who pass the screening exam are immediately eligible for assignment to a teaching assistantship. Those who do not pass the screening exam must enroll in and satisfactorily complete ENGL 485M or a suitable relevant course before being eligible for a teaching assistantship. International graduate students wishing to hold a teaching assistantship should check with their department to determine when they should arrive on campus to meet the screening requirement. International students who do not pass the screening exam may be eligible to serve as graders for their academic departments. The academic departments must receive approval from the Graduate School in order to hire these students.
The duties involved normally require about 20 hours per week (full-time fall and spring) of the student’s time. By accepting an assistantship, the student is obligated to enroll in and maintain enrollment in a minimum of nine graded credits per semester, but not more than 15 per semester. A graduate assistant may not enroll for more than 15 credits for each fall and spring semester. Courses taken for audit or undergraduate deficiencies are counted in the maximum total course load; audited classes and courses under 450 cannot be used for the minimum GA course load requirement.
