College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics

This page describes:

• The main types of funding available to AFRE graduate students, and
• Specific Research Assistantship opportunities that are available to new graduate students joining the AFRE M.S. or Ph.D. program in Fall 2027. (Please scroll down to view these opportunities.)

MAIN TYPES OF FUNDING

There are several ways graduate students can receive financial support for their programs. Both admission and funding are highly competitive. The Department offers graduate Research Assistantships, Teaching Assistantships, and Extension Assistantships, as well as fellowships and hourly positions (grading and research). The Department also nominates several applicants per admission cycle for Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantships and University Distinguished Fellowships, both of which are financed by MSU through the Graduate School, as well as C.S. Mott Fellowships in Sustainable Agriculture. Please note: The number of available assistantships and other funding opportunities is limited and not all applicants admitted to the program are offered funding.  For the Fall 2027 cohort, apply by December 15, 2026, for full consideration for funding.

• Research Assistantships (RAs) are the most common type of assistantship offered by AFRE. Both M.S. and Ph.D. students are eligible to work as RAs in general; however, eligibility varies across specific RA positions. ***Please see below for RA opportunities on specific projects for students applying to start their graduate studies in AFRE in Fall Semester 2027. More opportunities will be posted in the coming weeks, so please check back periodically. Additional funded offers will be made beyond the specific RA opportunities listed below.***

• Teaching Assistantships (TAs) in AFRE are instructor of record positions and entail the TA teaching an undergraduate-level course in AFRE. As such, only Ph.D. students are eligible for TAs in AFRE and students employed as TAs are typically in their third or fourth year of doctoral study. Prior to serving as a TA instructor of record, AFRE Ph.D. students serve as a grader for the course they will teach and are mentored by a faculty instructor of record in the course content, classroom management, and pedagogy. Students interested in academic careers are encouraged to TA in at least one semester during their doctoral program. MSU offers extensive teaching-related professional development opportunities. 

• Extension Assistantships (EAs) are an initiative in partnership with and funded by MSU Extension. EAs work with an AFRE faculty member on extension/outreach activities related to issues of importance to MSU Extension stakeholders. Both M.S. and Ph.D. students are eligible to work as EAs. These assistantships help students prepare for careers that involve extension or outreach. 

Graduate assistants are generally expected to work 20 hours per week on their assistantship. In addition to providing a stipend ($30,900+ over 12 months with annual raises), graduate assistantships cover health insurance for 12 months and up to 9 credits of tuition in fall semester and in spring semester. If the student takes additional credits, they are only charged the in-state tuition rate. Twenty hours per week assistantships are referred to as 1/2-time assistantships. Ten hours per week (1/4-time) assistantships may also be offered; a 1/4-time assistantship comes with the same health insurance and tuition benefits as a 1/2-time assistantship, but the stipend is half that of a 1/2-time assistantship. In some cases, 1/4-time assistantship funding offers may be supplemented by hourly employment (e.g., grading) or fellowships (i.e., lump sum scholarships).  

You can indicate in your application if you wish to be considered for a graduate assistantship. ***If you have an interest in a particular type of assistantship (especially RAs and EAs, as these are the types of assistantships offered to first-year AFRE graduate students), please mention this in your application and describe how the assistantship will help you meet your academic and career goals.***  

Both domestic and international students are eligible for funding; however, some grant-funded RAs have restrictions on who can be hired as an RA on a given project. Additionally, international students seeking to serve as a TA must meet the requirements outlined in the MSU Policy Affecting International Teaching Assistants.  

Students not receiving graduate assistantships can finance their program in other ways. Grading opportunities for 10 or 20 hours per week are offered in fall and spring semesters. The hourly rate of pay for these positions is the hourly equivalent of the stipend portion of a graduate assistantship, but grading positions do not include tuition and health insurance benefits. Hourly research positions may also be available. Fellowships may also be offered.

Many international students can apply for graduate training fellowships through programs operated in their own countries. The MSU Library maintains a useful list of Graduate Scholarships, Fellowships, and Loan opportunities. You can also visit the MSU Office of Financial Aid.

Some students self-fund their programs. Tuition costs are available on the MSU Controller's website and student health insurance plan information is available on the MSU's HR benefit's website. 

The Foreign Fulbright Graduate Student Program is also available to students from many countries. Within the U.S., this program is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). Outside the U.S., the program is administered in 50 countries by a Binational Commission, and in the remaining countries by the U.S. Information Service (USIS).  

If you have external funding (full or partial) or are willing to self-fund (fully or partially), please be sure to state this in your application. Externally-funded and self-funded prospective students are welcome and encouraged to apply.

Please see the Applying & Visiting page for guidance on preparing a competitive application.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR FALL 2027 APPLICANTS

See below for details on the following RA opportunities:

• Ph.D. Research Assistantship: Long-run Rural Economic Development (with Dr. Craig Carpenter)
• Ph.D. Research Assistantship: Agricultural and Food Markets, Policy, and Trade (with Drs. Kajal Gulati and David Ortega)

Please note: Funding opportunities beyond those listed below will also be available.

Ph.D. Research Assistantship: Long-run Rural Economic Development (with Dr. Craig Carpenter)

AFRE faculty member Dr. Craig Carpenter seeks a strong Ph.D. applicant for a funded research assistantship (RA) on a project funded by U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The project is led by Dr. Craig Carpenter (MSU), along with colleagues Dr. John Anders (Trinity University) and Dr. Trey Malone (Purdue University).

The project studies how rural economic shocks over the past century shaped economic opportunity for rural children and their children. The team will link restricted-access federal administrative microdata inside the Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) system. These data include the Social Security, IRS, and Census microdata. Using place and date of birth, the team will estimate causal effects of childhood exposure to farm shocks on adult and next-generation outcomes. The successful candidate will also have the flexibility to shape projects around their own interests within these broad areas.

This position is open to Ph.D. program applicants only.

What the RA will do

• Build and clean treatment datasets on rural economic shocks.
• Help assemble large linked single-generation and intergenerational samples within a secure FSRDC.
• Implement causal inference methods, including modern event-study and difference-in-differences estimators.
• Prepare results for disclosure review and co-author peer-reviewed journal articles.
• Help translate findings into Extension and policy materials, and take part in a stakeholder workshop with agribusiness, Extension, and policy audiences.

Support and mentoring

• Half-time graduate research assistantship with tuition and health insurance covered.
• Weekly one-on-one mentoring with Dr. Carpenter.
• Regular co-mentoring with Drs. Anders and Malone.
• Funded travel to present at professional conferences.
• Hands-on training in restricted federal data, applied econometrics, reproducible coding, and research communication for academic and non-academic audiences.
• The RA is expected to develop dissertation research from the project.

Required qualifications

• Admission to the AFRE Ph.D. program at MSU. (This position is open to Ph.D. program applicants only. Master’s program applicants are not eligible for the position.)
• Eligibility for U.S. Census Bureau Special Sworn Status (see Eligibility below).
• Ability to work on-site in a secure FSRDC facility, following strict confidentiality and data-use rules.
• Strong written communication skills.

This position requires access to confidential federal microdata in a Federal Statistical Research Data Center. The RA must obtain U.S. Census Bureau Special Sworn Status, which requires:

• U.S. citizenship, or for foreign nationals, physical residency in the United States for at least 3 of the past 5 years (prior to the RA start date of August 16, 2027).
• Passing a federal background investigation.
• Taking a lifetime oath of nondisclosure.
• Completing annual Census Bureau confidentiality trainings.

Applicants who do not meet the U.S. Census Bureau’s residency requirement cannot be considered for this position, but are welcome to apply to the AFRE Ph.D. program for other funding opportunities.

The RA position is for an average of 20 hours of work per week and includes stipend, tuition, and health insurance benefits. To express interest in this RA opportunity, please mention the position and why you are interested in it in the academic statement portion of your application to the AFRE Ph.D. program. Application materials for interested applicants who are deemed admissible by the AFRE graduate admissions committee will then be shared by the admissions committee with Dr. Carpenter for further consideration.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Dr. Craig Carpenter at cwcarp@msu.edu.

Ph.D. Research Assistantship: Agricultural and Food Markets, Policy, and Trade (with Drs. Kajal Gulati and David Ortega)

AFRE faculty members Dr. Kajal Gulati and Dr. David Ortega are seeking to hire an incoming AFRE Ph.D. student as an RA to support a portfolio of research on agricultural and food markets, policy, and trade. The research examines how domestic and international policies, market structure, and shocks shape agricultural and food value chains, producer and consumer decisions, and trade flows, with implications for food security and economic development. Projects apply applied econometric and policy analysis methods to a range of market and trade data. The RA will contribute to the team’s research objectives, including data assembly and cleaning, quantitative analysis, and co-authoring papers, policy briefs, and presentations. There will be opportunities to present at professional meetings, to co-author publications, and to collaborate with other MSU faculty working on international agricultural trade and development. The successful candidate will also have the flexibility to shape projects around their own interests within these areas.

This position is open to Ph.D. program applicants only.

Required qualifications:

• A passion for agricultural and food economics, policy, and international trade
• A strong quantitative background, including coursework in econometrics
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• A strong work ethic and an ability to work both independently and as part of a team

Desired (but not required) qualifications:

• Experience with statistical software such as R, Stata, or Python
• A master’s degree in economics, agricultural economics, or a related field
• Familiarity with trade or agricultural market data

The RA position is for an average of 20 hours of work per week and includes stipend, tuition, and health insurance benefits. To express interest in this RA opportunity, please mention the position and why you are interested in it in the academic statement portion of your application to the AFRE Ph.D. program. Application materials for interested applicants who are deemed admissible by the AFRE graduate admissions committee will then be shared by the admissions committee with Drs. Gulati and Ortega for further consideration.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Dr. Kajal Gulati at gulatik4@msu.edu or Dr. David Ortega at dlortega@msu.edu.