Scholarships and Financial Aid: College of Optometry

Graduate Student Fellowships

For graduate (M.S. or Ph.D) students, the College offers students fellowships to help defray the cost of their graduate education.  The Graduate Tuition Fellowship covers the cost of in-state tuition for qualified Ph.D. students.  Exceptional Ph.D. applicants to our programs are also eligible for a Presidential fellowship for the first two-years of their graduate study or a Houston Endowment Fellowship for three to five years of graduate study. 

Graduate Student Assistants

Graduate student (M.S. or Ph.D.) assistants and teaching fellows are graduate students in good standing who are enrolled full-time and hold an appointment that requires fulfilling such duties as classroom and/or laboratory instruction, clinical instruction, grading papers and exams, or research.  There are four graduate student appointment categories, encompassing the position of Teaching Fellow, Teaching Assistant, Instructional Assistant and Research Assistant.

Graduate assistants and teaching fellows will normally be limited to a 50 percent appointment, which usually entails service for no more than an average of 20 hours per week, including time spent in preparation, in the classroom and laboratory, in reading papers and examinations, and in any combination of these or other activities as assigned. An increase in percent appointment requires approval of the College Dean and the Dean of the Graduate School.  Teaching Fellows (graduate students teaching a course for credit) must have completed a minimum of 18 semester hours in graduate credit in their teaching field, must be in good standing and must be making satisfactory progress toward the degree.  The Teaching Fellow may be listed as the instructor of record.

International and non-resident graduate student assistants are granted a non-resident tuition waiver, which allows them to pay only in-state tuition.