Assistantships Available!

Most full-time marine science graduate students are supported on competitively-awarded teaching or research assistantships, which include full tuition and non resident fee waivers, health insurance and a stipend for living expenses ($1,700 and $1,750 per month for entering MS and Ph.D. students, respectively). Students must be enrolled for 9 to 13 hours to be considered full-time students.

Cost of Study

For current tuition costs, go to www.usm.edu/financialaid/coa.php.

Cost of Living

For undergraduate students, on-campus housing is not available at either of the
USM Student Services Center (Gulfport) or Gulf Park (Long Beach) campuses.
However, there are abundant housing opportunities near the beach in the nearby
Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Biloxi, D'Iberville, Gulfport, and Long Beach.

For graduate students, various opportunities for housing are available in cities near the Stennis Space Center. Students can live near the beach in the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian or Picayune, or closer to New Orleans in the city of Slidell, LA., on the north shore of Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. No housing is available at the Stennis Space Center. The estimated cost of living (housing, food, travel) is $1000 per month for a single graduate student.

Additional Information can be found in the SOS Student Handbook: [PDF format]