Tuition & Aid

Base Pay Rates and Benefits

Graduate assistantships (GAs) are awarded by various departments or units on campus. On 50% assistantships, students work 20 hours per week (in teaching, research, or other areas) or teach up to two 3 credit hour courses. Students on 25% assistantships will work 10 hours per week.

Current minimum graduate assistantship base pay rates will be set by the Graduate School and International Education at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Graduate Assistantships Monthly Pay Rates By Department

Qualifications

To qualify for an assistantship, graduate students must be regularly admitted into the graduate school and accepted into a graduate degree or certificate program.

Successful applicants must have good academic records, adequate preparation for graduate study in their major field, and must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.85 on all work taken for graduate credit, although some departments may require their graduate assistants to maintain a higher grade point average.

Students on a 50% graduate assistantship must enroll in a minimum of 6 graduate hours each Fall/Spring. Students on a 25% graduate assistantships must enroll in a minimum of 9 graduate hours each Fall/Spring.

Graduate School approval is required for the tuition waiver to pay undergraduate hours, audited hours, hours outside of the program, and hours above the maximum. Departments have the discretion to limit a waiver to the minimum number of hours required by the assistantship.

Graduate Assistantships whose native language is not English and will be interacting with students in a teaching or tutorial role are required to pass English language requirements for both speaking and writing. Current requirements can be found on the Admissions recruiting site.

GA Start and End Dates

In order to comply with federal tax law and immigration regulations, the Graduate School will be monitoring the start and termination dates for Graduate Assistants.

Please see the below times when you should start and end the employment of a Graduate Assistant. Allow enough processing time in Workday to allow your Graduate Assistants to begin work by these benchmarks.

Start Date

Spring

A brand new graduate student (never enrolled before) who will hold a GA for the Spring semester should start their appointment the Monday (or the Tuesday if the Monday is a University holiday) before the regular spring session begins.

• If a student is expected to work during the January intersession, they may begin their GA position as early as the first day of the January intersession.
• A returning student (someone who has been a student in the previous semester, even if not on a GA or on a GA in another unit) may start their GA on the first day campus opens in January.

Summer

A brand new graduate student (never enrolled before) who will hold a GA for the Summer semester OR a returning student (someone who has been a student in the previous semester, even if not on a GA or on a GA in another unit) may start their GA as early as the first day of May intersession and must work for a minimum of 30 calendar days.

Fall

A brand new graduate student (never enrolled before) who will hold a GA for the Fall semester may start their appointment on the Monday before the regular fall session begins.

• If a student is expected to work during the August intersession, they may begin their GA position as early as the first day of the August intersession.
  A returning student (someone who has been a student in the previous semester, even if not on a GA or on a GA in another unit) may start their GA as early as the first day of August intersession.
• Late Arriving/Late Starting Graduate Assistants
  A department may be appointed to begin a Graduate Assistantship in the Fall or Spring semester as late as the first day of the second 8-week session. If a student starts by this date, they will be eligible for a full tuition waiver for the semester.

End Date

In general, the “rule of thumb” is that GA=student. When a student graduates, they are no longer a student, therefore they cannot be a GA. If employment of the now alumni continues past the degree conferral date (listed below), they need to be moved to another paid position.

For a Graduating Graduate Assistant

• If a GA is graduating in Fall, their employment must end on the last day worked but no later than before the University closes for Winter Break.
• If a GA is graduating in Spring, their employment must end on the last day worked but no later than before the start of May Intersession.
  If a GA who graduated in Spring 2022 will be teaching in Summer 2022, they cannot be paid as a GA for the summer course. They must be moved to an appointed lecturer position or be paid through unit pay as appropriate in your college.
• If a GA is graduating in Summer, their employment must end on the last day worked but no later than before the start of August Intersession. This date is for 12-month appointed GAs and 9-month GAs receiving period activity pay for Summer II. If you have a graduating 9-month GA who received period activity pay in Summer I and is not working past Summer I, their employment may be ended earlier.
  As a reminder, in order to qualify for a summer tuition waiver, a GA must work for at least 30 calendar days in the summer.

If a Graduate Assistant is not graduating and is continuing as a student between semesters, no action needs to be taken. Students who are not graduating can continue to work as a GA, following the normal requirements of enrollment (minimum of 3 hours in summer/6 hours in Fall and Spring).

If the GA is an international student, please encourage them to check with ISS to ensure visa compliance.