Scholarships and Assistantships
Prospective students may wish to explore several potential sources of financial assistance. Our Office of Graduate Studies Internal Funding website has information on UC Davis scholarships and fellowships, which have an application deadline of January 15; their External Funding page has links to many external sources for grants and fellowships, and a search engine to help you look for other funding sites.
Graduate Student Research Assistantships (GSRs) are offered through the departments participating in the Graduate Group in Horticulture and Agronomy, generally in conjunction with the research you are doing with your Major Professor. If you are employed as a GSR at 25% time or more, your fees and tuition will be paid as a benefit of employment. Some departments have competitively-awarded departmental GSRs as well. Students who will be working with a faculty member in the Department of Plant Sciences may be eligible for the Plant Sciences' Departmental Assistantship; the application deadline is March 1.
For domestic students, grants and loans may be available through the Financial Aid Office, and work-study awards for eligible students are available through the graduate group. To be eligible for any financial aid, including work-study, domestic students must file a FAFSA (see above).
Teaching Assistantships
The Horticulture & Agronomy Graduate Group does not award or have access
to teaching assistantships; they are awarded by academic departments. If you are
employed as a Teaching Assistant (or a Graduate Reader) at 25% time or more, all but
a small portion of your fees will be paid as a benefit of employment, but your
non-resident tuition (if applicable) will not.
You are free to apply for any teaching assistantships offered by individual departments
that you feel you are qualified to teach. You should contact departments
(many of which are listed here) individually to request an application; please note that each
department has a different deadline. The
Graduate Studies Employment webpage also has a listing
of some of the TA positions available; it is a good resource, but unfortunately
many open positions are not listed there.
If the department requires supplemental
application information such as copies of your transcripts, GREs, letters of
recommendation, and/or your resume, Horticulture & Agronomy can provide copies
from your admission packet. If you would like to take advantage of this service,
please provide the Horticulture & Agronomy office with a list of departments
that you have applied to. If there are supplemental letters of recommendation
that can attest to your teaching background or experience, we highly recommend
that you include these with your TA application.
Student Employment Center
If you are not eligible for financial aid or an assistantship, but still wish to supplement your resources while studying, the Student Employment Center can help you (or your spouse) find suitable employment. They also have on-line job listings at jobs.ucdavis.edu. If you have received a letter of acceptance, but have not yet registered, you may use these services during the quarter or summer prior to enrollment.
Nonresident Tuition Fee Fellowships
International students, as well as U.S. citizens, immigrants, and permanent residents who are not California residents, may apply for Non-resident Tuition Fee Fellowships on the basis of distinguished scholarship and financial need.
Travel Awards
Funding is available from several sources to cover travel to professional meetings.
The awards are competitive and priority is given to students presenting papers. (For
some awards this is one of the criteria for eligibility.)