Financial Assistance
Graduate Assistantships
Graduate assistantships: Students enrolled for nine credit hours or more of coursework may apply to the Department of Special Education for competitive graduate assistantships that include tuition waivers and compensate graduate assistants for up to 20 hours of work per week.
University Financial Assistance
General financial aid information is available at the Illinois State Financial Aid Office. The Graduate School also posts information about aid and scholarship opportunities.
Scholarships
Every year, multiple competitive scholarships are available through the Department of Special Education, the College of Education, the Council for Teacher Education, and The Graduate College. The preferred scholarship application period is October 15-November 15 each year.
Additional information on available scholarships can be found on the College of Education Scholarship website.
Graduate Tuition Rates
The Board of Trustees of Illinois State University authorizes tuition and general fee rates on an annual basis. The number of semester hours that you register for determines the amount of tuition and general fees (other than Student Health Insurance). Students enrolled for 9 or more hours during Fall & Spring semester and students enrolled for 6 or more hours during Summer semester are charged Student Health Insurance. More information on tuition costs for the current academic year can be found at Graduate Tuition Rates.
Tuition Waivers for Graduate Students
Applications for tuition waivers are due by 4 p.m. on August 20 (fall semester), January 20 (spring semester), and May 20 (summer semester). Please submit your completed and signed application by the due date to SpecialEducation@IllinoisState.edu.
The Department has established the following criteria for awarding tuition waivers:
- Must have successfully completed at least six (6) semester hours of coursework in the Department of Special Education M.S. programs or a doctoral student enrolled in SED 594 and/or the first 15 dissertation hours and making progress on the dissertation.
- Enrolled in courses approved toward the degree program
- Financial need
- Less than 100 percent tuition reimbursement from any other source
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
Please note that no applicant is guaranteed a waiver. Applicants should pay their bills for courses as if no waivers are expected. If the waiver is granted after you pay your account balance, the University will issue a refund check.