Tuition and Funding

Tuition

Tuition and fees vary from year to year. Use these links to learn more.


Travel Funding

Date of Policy: January 2, 2024  

Availability of Travel Funds for Students, FY2023-2024 

We are pleased to announce the availability of travel funds to support ITLS student travel to conferences at the following levels:  

  • Any graduate students may receive up to $900 
  • Undergraduate students (must be a declared ITLS major, minor, or working on an ITLS grant, can receive up to $450. 
  • Any student working on a funded research assistantship of 5+ hours/week from any source (e.g. doctoral scholar, PDRF, undergraduate research fellow, graduate research fellow, external grant, startup funds etc . . . ) will increase these travel funds by $500 for the fiscal year. The funded research must be in place on or before the conference and funding priority (see maximum amounts below) will be given to students with multiple semesters of research assistantships.

Note the fiscal year runs from July 1st – June 30st. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling monthly basis, with a maximum total allotment of $10,000 for fall semester, and the remainder allocated in spring and summer semesters (up to $20,000 total).

Note:  Please make sure you check https://travel.usu.edu/ for the latest information.   

Students are encouraged to pay close attention to match opportunities and rules to maximize their sources of travel support. Students are further encouraged to prioritize travel that involves presenting original research with an ITLS faculty member, please do not assume that faculty have dollars to help you get to a conference. For the most up-to-date information refer to the graduate school website: https://gradschool.usu.edu/costs/travel-grant or the research website for undergraduate students: https://research.usu.edu/undergradresearch/travel-award/ please read carefully as undergraduate students have multiple opportunities.

To be eligible, the student must be presenting at a professional conference. At the department head’s discretion and reviewed on a case-by-case basis, these funds can be used to collaborate on grant writing, for pilot data collection, or for a writing retreat. Any case-by-case review request must clearly document the research related deliverable or activities that will come out of the travel. Funds will be prioritized for requests that have specific collaborators, a clear relationship between the travel destination and activity, are paired with other funding sources, and/or will result in further opportunities for the student. Given the nature of our field research is broadly defined to include design, empirical (qualitative and quantitative), and could include any phase of the research process (proposal writing, data collection, analysis, collecting design inspiration, etc . . . ). Students who engage in this kind of pre-approved non-conference travel will write a short paragraph about what they accomplished and future funding of this kind will depend on a correspondence between their plan and what was completed.

For in-person conference attendance 

Email application and Travel Authorization (see below) must be submitted at least one month before the travel date.  Students who do not meet this deadline will not be approved for travel funds. 

Apply

To apply, please email the following information to Brigham (brigham.haroldsen@usu.edu 

  • Your name, your A#
  • Conference information: conference title, location, dates, and webpage
  • Presentation information (author, title)
  • Source of extra funds, if any (graduate school travel award or grant funds)
  • Proof of conference acceptance (email acceptance, conference program, etc . . . )

Departmental funds cannot be used for late registration, but can cover up to the regular registration amount.  Travel cannot be used to cover avoidable added expenses (such as flight mistakes) but can be used to pay for costs outside the traveler’s control (flight for a canceled meeting). 

Pre-Trip Reimbursement for Approved Travelers 

The ITLS department recognizes that travel is a financial burden, once students have an approved Travel Authorization they can coordinate pre-trip reimbursements by sending receipts to Jennifer Lyons a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of travel. 

Pre-Trip Purchasing by the Department 

We encourage finding any mechanism possible to pay and be reimbursed which again, includes reimbursement in advance of a trip. If none exist (e.g. the student doesn’t have a credit card) the department can pay in advance for high-cost items like plane tickets or conference registration. See Brigham for assistance and have your choices made when you connect with him. Keep in mind that has to happen in person to fit with p-card policy.  

Assumption of trip actually happening 

Students are encouraged to complete travel when at all possible. Make sure you have valid travel documents if relevant and there are no other barriers to travel especially before any travel purchases. If there are unforeseen circumstances that prevent travel, students should immediately petition the department to resolve expenses. Students are responsible to cancel any pending arrangements and seek refunds for existing charges. 

  1. Any allowable travel charges paid by the department will count against the student’s travel allowance for the fiscal year. 
  2. Similarly, any allowable travel charges reimbursed to the student by the department will count against the student’s travel allowance for the fiscal year. 
  3. Both #1 and #2 are mitigated by any refunds that come back directly to the department.  

Students with a trip that does not occur may not have access to department travel funds in the future. Note that getting refunds back to the department provides space for yourself, and for other students to travel.

Department funds grace 

While the TA/TR process is identical regardless of travel funding source, keep in mind that there is much more grace in department funds then there may be in a grant. Be strategic about your use of department travel funds. 

Process

If awarded, the student will submit the completed Student ITLS Travel Form to Jennifer Lyons (Jennifer.Lyons@usu.edu) at least one month before traveling. Students must submit a copy of all, itemized receipts, along with the Student ITLS Travel Form, to Jennifer within two weeks after they return in order to receive the award and reimbursement.

Note: Meals will be reimbursed on a per diem basis and do not require receipts. All other receipts must include the vendor, dates of services, name of purchaser, amount paid and balance owing, and a clear reference to how the charge was paid (typically the last four digits of the credit card used to pay). If another person’s credit card is used to make the payments, an email from the card holder must be sent to Jennifer Lyons authorizing reimbursement of the expense to be made to the student. Venmo and PayPal transactions require additional documentation to adequately show a purchase was made, and are not recommended forms of payment for reimbursable expenses.

Virtual Conference Attendance 

Some conferences are still offering virtual attendance options. If your only expenses are membership and conference registration for a virtual conference then it makes life easier for you to email the same required information to Brigham and work with him on using a University p-card to pay, counting the costs against your overall travel funding expenses for the year.   

Student ITLS Travel Form

Jobs

Do you work full or part time? Many ITLS students, especially our online students, receive funding through their employer!

Scholarships

Note: To receive any scholarships, graduate students must complete their FAFSA

The Graduate Studies Financial Information Page lists assistantships, waivers, scholarships, travel grants, financial aid, and other graduate student funding opportunities. You can find additional scholarships here. Past ITLS students have received these scholarships:

Wesley & Lucille Soulier Scholarship:

Funding for married students who can demonstrate financial need.

Byron R. & Shirley Burnham Scholarship:

Funding for full-time graduate students who demonstrate financial need and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50.

ITLS Department Tuition Scholarships:

Up to $1000 awarded in the spring semester. Recipients must be taking at least six credits in the next Summer and/or Fall semester.

ITLS Department Research and Development Scholarships:

Funding for research or project expenses.

piggy bank surrounded by coins


Financial Aid and Loans

Federal Student Aid

Fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

Follow the steps on Utah State's financial aid page

We encourage all students to complete the FAFSA, regardless of your status or funding. Many scholarships and assistantships require a FAFSA on file.

Assistantships

Interested in working alongside our faculty to get first-hand experience in research and teaching? The department often has openings for research and teaching assistantships. We also have matriculation assistantship offers for first year doctoral students.

See our Graduate Studies Assistantships Page for more info about assistantships, and note that GTF, and GRA students would not meet eligibility unless it was paired with additional assistantship hours.

Graduate Tuition Waivers and College Tuition Pool Awards 

Please refer to the graduate school for the most up to date information regarding Graduate Tuition Waivers for non-resident tuition (https://gradschool.usu.edu/costs/waivers). For the most part these apply to PhD or MS plan A students who have an assistantship, and they waive the non-resident/international portion of tuition. For those who can obtain Utah resident status, these waivers are intended as a bridge and students need to work towards residency for their second year. International students continue to use the waiver throughout their program as long as they maintain eligibility. Note that the department does take part in the WRGP program for those completing their Master’s degree in person, and other students may be eligible for the Excellence or the Legacy waiver. 

The Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services has College Tuition Pool Award dollars to cover the in-state portion for students on an assistantship who are not getting their tuition covered by a grant. These funds are limited to PhD students only and again, students have to meet and maintain eligibility criteria. These funds are also not available to cover summer classes. 

In both cases you apply for the Waiver and/or Tuition Award by means of an agreement form that lists the criteria. You need to complete this form with Janet Blad after registering for classes and signing your assistantship agreement. 

Tuition Waiver Qualifications

Research Non-Resident with Assistantship:
  • Domestic Student – first year only
  • International Student – duration of program
  • .50 FTE assistantship (20 hours/week)
  • Matriculated into ITLS program
  • Full-Time (registered for 6 or more graduate credits)
University Non-Resident for Excellence (Criteria Effective Fall 2017)
  • First year only
  • Matriculated into ITLS program
  • Above the average of students admitted fall semester in the college – computed each October
  • Admission GPA > 3.66
  • GRE verbal > 68.4%
  • GRE quant > 77.2%
  • MAT .. Insufficient data from last year, not an option
College In-State and Differential
  • .50 FTE assistantship (20 hours/week)
  • Matriculated into ITLS program
  • Full-Time (registered for 6 or more graduate credits)
  • Credits on Program of Study – < 70 credits  


Undergraduate Research Fellows (URF), Graduate Research Fellows (GRF), and Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTF)

Derived from the Provost’s office Undergraduate Teaching Fellows program the ITLS department offers several other options for teaching and research fellowships. Students and faculty should refer to the Provost page for the most up to date information regarding the UTF program. The remaining sections are about the URF, GRF, GTF programs.

Selection

URF, GTF, and GRF positions are selected by faculty with funding from the ITLS department. Sometimes these positions are advertised but as faculty mentored experiences faculty are often looking for high achieving undergraduate and graduate students to work with them and may be approaching you individually. It can be a good strategy to let faculty know you are interested in one of these positions in the future.

Course Credit

There are no circumstances in which students can register for the class in which they are also a UTF or GTF.

Training

As part of compliance requirements URFs, GRFs, and GTFs will be required to take University trainings (such as Title IX and for GRFs FERPA). It is important that you regularly check the email address that the University has for you in banner.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities will vary with each class or research assignment and will be outlined as part of an agreement signed off on by the student and the faculty mentor. The average commitment to work as a URF, GRF, or GTF is 5 hours per week for a semester, working a total of 100 hours. Note that UTFs have separate Provost required paperwork requirements for both the student and for the faculty member.

Compensation

Compensation is uniform for ITLS UTF and URF positions at $850 per semester and ITLS URF and GRF positions at $950 per semester. To comply with government regulations, all positions must track their work hours through Aggietime. Faculty and students need to work together to make sure students not go over 100 hours for the semester. Note that URF and GRF students presenting on research related to their work would be eligible for an additional $500 in travel funding.

Awards

Only UTFs are eligible to be nominated as outstanding undergraduate teaching fellows as there are also awards at the college and University level. There are other awards for undergraduate, and graduate researchers and teachers.