Finances, Fellowships, and Awards
Graduate Programs in the Departments of
Agricultural and Applied Economics and Economics

Graduate Research and Teaching Assistantships:
Teaching and research within the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics are conducted both by faculty members and graduate students working under their direction. Most graduate students in the department receive some form of financial support, primarily from sponsored research projects. Students enrolled in degree programs for the M.S. with thesis, the M.S. with agribusiness focus, and the Ph.D. are eligible for an assistantship. In Agricultural and Applied Economics, these assignments are usually made on a calendar year (12-month) basis, while in Economics they are usually on an academic year (9 month) basis. Some students are supported for shorter periods on hourly wages.

Stipends and Tuition:
As of August 2006, monthly stipends for a student on a one-half time graduate teaching or research assistantship range from $1,525 to $1,569. Outstanding students may qualify for senior graduate research assistantships with stipends up to $2,000 per month. Several special fellowships (described below) are available that provide additional support to outstanding students.

For 2006-2007, tuition per semester is about $3,508 for in-state and $6,207 for out-of-state students. Students also pay a comprehensive fee of $599 per semester for Virginia residents and $659 for non-Virginia residents, which covers athletic events, student health service, bus fee, and other activities. Students with an assistantship receive a waiver of academic-year tuition. Normally, graduate students do not register for summer courses.

Duration of Assistantships:
Master's degree students may be carried for a maximum of 22 months on a teaching or research assistantship. Ph.D. students may be carried for a maximum of 39 months beyond a master's degree. Extensions of the duration of assistantships can only be made with approval from the Department Head.

To be eligible for reappointment, a student on assistantship must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA on all coursework taken and must earn a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester. If a student's GPA drops below 3.0, the student is given notification and may be allowed one semester in which to bring his/her cumulative GPA back up to 3.0. If a cumulative GPA of 3.0 is not achieved after this one semester, the student's financial assistance will be discontinued. A student must also make satisfactory progress on his or her research, and perform satisfactorily on any other assistantship assignments. Assistantship appointments may be terminated at any time for unsatisfactory progress in a student's program.

Special Fellowships (Kline, Driscoll and Cunningham):
Two permanent special fellowships are available that provide additional support to outstanding students. These are the Kline and Driscoll Fellowships that are provided from endowed funds of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics to honor former members of the faculty. The Kline and Driscoll Fellowships of $1,000-$3,000 are offered to one or more entering students for their first year of study in the areas of microeconomics/production economics and resource economics/quantitative methods, respectively.

Driscoll Memorial Outstanding Graduate Research Award:
Each winter since 2000, the faculty have selected the best master's thesis or Ph.D. dissertation completed in the Department of Agricultural Economics or Department of Economics during the preceding calendar year. This thesis or dissertation receives the annual Driscoll Memorial Outstanding Graduate Research Award. The award is given in honor of the contributions of former faculty member, Paul Driscoll, to recognize the achievement of a recent graduate. The recipient receives an award certificate and $250.00. Winners of the Research Award have been:

2007: Pilar Jano. M.S. received the $1000 Kline Graduate Fellowship award for Excellence in Academic Achievement, Dr. Denise Mainville, advisor.

2006: Jason Maupin. M.S. thesis "Valuing Environmental Benefits from GM Products: Using an Experimental Procedure Lessons from the United States and Philippines, " Drs. George W. Norton and Jeffery Alwang, co-advisors.

2003: Guy Hareau. M.S. thesis "The Adoption of Genetically Modified Organisms in Uruguay's Agriculture: An Ex-Ante Assessment of Potential Beneifts," Drs. George W. Norton and Bradford F. Mills, co-advisors.

2002: Lire Ersado. Ph.D. dissertation "Three essays in Development Economics: Savings Behavior and Risk; Health and Public Investments; and Sequential Technology Adoption," Drs. Gregory S. Amacher and Jeffery Alwang, co-advisors.

2001: Cathleen Johnson. Ph.D. dissertation "Social Capital and Conventions: A Social Network Perspective," Dr. Robert Gilles, advisor.

2000: Sarah Chinnis Bosley. M.S. thesis "The Differential Impact of Welfare Reform in Non-Metropolitan and Metropolitan Virginia," Dr. Bradford F. Mills, advisor.

Paxton Marshall Public Policy Award:
The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics is in the process of seeking an endowment for the Paxton Marshall Public Policy Award that will recognize excellent work on public policy issues, particularly government and public affairs, rural leadershp development, natural resources policy, and policy formulation and education. Eligibility for this award will be open to graduate students and faculty in the department, staff of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, faculty of Virginia State University, other Virginia colleges and universities, staff of relevant agencies of the government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and individuals from other organizations.