<p>I'm considering applying for a M.S. in Electrical Engineering. However, it looks like most of the TAs and RAs go to doctoral students. For example, Northwestern University's website says "MS applicants: Financial aid is not available. This includes fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships."</p>
<p>Is this the norm for engineering grad schools? Does anyone know if an M.S. student can be a TA or RA? Also, are there any other sources of financial aid for a M.S. student?</p>
<p>I'm an MS student with a TA and a fellowship. I would venture to guess here (Georgia Tech) about 1/3 to 1/2 of MS students have a TA in ECE, so I think some places it's fairly common even at the MS level. The philosophy here is that you get a TA as an MS so that in your second year you can find an RA, so basically all the classes have a TA that's a first year MS student.</p>
<p>The MS is seen as a professional degree rather than an academic one so I guess schools are unlikely to fund someone unless they show specific interest in earning a PhD. Although I did mention that I had a TA, being an MS student precludes getting the prestigious institution-wide fellowships or an RA.</p>
<p>As to your question of outside funding, the only ones I know of are for PhD students (NSF, SRC, etc). Co-ops are not uncommon here, though, and you get paid industry wages unlike undergrad.</p>
<p>At many places (my school, for example) there are no TA/RA positions available for MS students. All such funding is reserved for PhD students.</p>
<p>As for outside stuff, sometimes if you work for a company they will pay for you to go get a master's degree. Given the current economy, you have to be pretty lucky for that right now, though.</p>