Graduate Appointments
Graduate assistantships, fellowships, and research grants have been established at Iowa State University to encourage graduate work and to promote research. Such appointments and research opportunities are available through the various departments of instruction and the research centers on campus.

Graduate assistantships, the most common form of graduate student support, are available in three categories: the research assistantship, the teaching assistantship, or the administrative assistantship. A half-time graduate assistantship (20 hours per week) permits the holder to enroll for a maximum of 12 semester credits. Recipients of these assistantships are assessed fees at full Iowa resident rates regardless of the number of credits for which they register. Students who are graduates of a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or of a recognized institution in another country whose requirements for the bachelor’s degree are substantially equivalent to those of Iowa State University, who graduated in the top half of their respective classes and who present the requisite undergraduate or graduate preparation, may apply for these appointments. Students registered on a restricted basis or those placed on academic probation are eligible for assistantship appointment only on a term by term basis. Students admitted without a declared major are not eligible for assistantship appointments. Further information may be obtained by writing to the appropriate graduate program.

The satisfactory completion of one appointment, plus satisfactory academic performance, will ordinarily make a student eligible for reappointment. After a period of three years of full time study for the master’s degree or five years for the doctorate, the student will not normally be continued on assistantship support (shorter periods may be stipulated by the student’s program or department).

Postdoctoral Study
Opportunities are provided for postdoctoral study through the extensive research programs of the university. Inquiries should be directed to the appropriate program, institute, or to the dean of the Graduate College.

Graduate Study by Staff Members
Any full-time member of the research, instructional, or extension staff at the rank of instructor, research associate, or assistant scientist may carry up to six course credits per semester and three credits per summer session, subject to the approval of the head of the program or section, and provided it does not interfere with other duties. This privilege may be extended to members of the research, instructional, or extension staffs at the rank of assistant professor with approval of the college dean and the Dean of the Graduate College. Staff members at the rank of professor or associate professor cannot become candidates for graduate degrees from ISU.