The offers of financial aid depend on several factors including GRE/TOEFL scores,
personal/phone interviews, previous research/industrial/teaching experience, area
of concentration, department needs and the financial factors. Competition for teaching
and research assistantships is always very keen and admitted students are always encouraged
to find other sources of support including personal/family funds. Several students
start their graduate education based on personal funds and later find some form of
financial support including assistantships and on-campus employment though clearly,
it can not be guaranteed.