Overview | Assistantships & Internships | Scholarships | Cost of Living
Overview
Financial support is available through graduate assistantships (research and teaching) and internships. Graduate assistantships (GAs) and internships include 20-hours per week of work and salary, tuition waivers and subsidized fringe benefits. Additional details are available here. Assistantship/internship applications for incoming students are made during the application process, available on the ORE Admission Link.
Beyond ORE, advertisement for some graduate assistant positions and other career opportunities at the University of Hawai‘i is managed centrally here. The University of Hawai’i sometimes has scholarships available.
Research assistantships (RAs)
Research assistantships (RAship) projects provide financial support to graduate assistants while providing them with the opportunity to participate in engineering studies and familiarize themselves with theoretical, numerical, and experimental methods. RAs are supported through individual faculty projects via 11-month appointments and may be eligible for “overload” during summer months provided need and availability of funds.
Teaching assistantships (TAs)
The ORE Department has two teaching assistantships (TAships). TA duties vary, and may include assisting faculty with delivering and evaluating course materials, maintaining ORE computing systems (networks, hardware and software), coordinating ORE seminars, newsletters and outreach events and so on. TAs are 9-month appointments (fall and spring semesters) and may be eligible for “overload” during summer months provided need and availability of funds.
Internships
A number of local engineering firms (including Healy Tibbitts Builders, Makai Engineering, Navatek, Oceanit, Pacific Shipyard, PacMar Technologies, and Sea Engineering) have sponsored ORE internships and provided practical training at their sites. Internships are 11-month appointments at 20 hours per week and follow the company’s holiday schedule. Many ORE interns find placement with their sponsor company after graduation. Internships, which involve training at the sponsor’s site, may not be allowable for international students due to visa restrictions.
Scholarships
Graduate scholarships and fellowships are regularly offered to qualified candidates by a number of organizations, some of which are listed below. We invite you to contact faculty whose research aligns with your interests to collaboratively develop a project for these opportunities.
- ASEE links: http://www.asee.org/fellowship-programs/graduate
- DoE CSGF: https://internships.fnal.gov/csgf/
- East-West Center: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/scholarships-fellowships
- IEEE OES: http://www.oceanicengineering.org/page.cfm/cat/81/OES-StudentScholarship-Program/
- Link: http://www.linkenergy.org/
- MTS: https://www.mtsociety.org/education/scholarships.aspx
- NSF: http://www.nsfgrfp.org/
- ONR: http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Education-Outreach/undergraduate-graduate/NDSEG-graduate-fellowship.aspx
- SNAME: http://www.sname.org/directories/programsresources/scholarships/
- UH financial aid: http://www.hawaii.edu/fas/
- Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship: https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart
- SOEST web listing of National Scholarship Opportunities: https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/education/graduate/financial-support/
Cost of Living in Hawaiʻi
Cost of Living Breakdown from the UH Mānoa Website: AY 2025 – 2026
For a breakdown of costs associated with attending our graduate programs, visit the UH Manoa Graduate Division website. Effective Fall 2020, graduate students from WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education) states will pay 1.5 times the resident tuition rate (instead of non-resident rates).