Graduate assistantships provide financial assistance to graduate students as they pursue a degree. There are two kinds of assistantships: Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) and Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA). GTAs share the faculty's responsibility for teaching, whereas GRAs do research under the supervision of a faculty member. Graduate assistants must be registered for at least 9 semester hours of graduate credit courses in the Spring and Fall (6 hours in the Summer) in which they hold an appointment. In return, the university will pay for tuition and fees for up to 12 hours per semester. Please note, assistantships are provided by the department and are highly competitive. Graduate assistantship support is classified according to three educational levels: Level I: Pre-master's Level II: Post-master's and/or passed the Ph.D. preliminary/comprehensive Level III: Passed the Ph.D qualifying examination Financial assistance is given according to educational level: Fall and Spring Stipend Rates Level I: $4,500 - $12,500 Level II: $5,000 - $14,000 Level III: $6,000 - $18,500 Summer Stipend Rates Level I: $2,700 - $8,500 Level II: $3,200 - $9,500 Level III: $3,700 - $12,500 Assistantship Application Assistantship Application Applicants should submit the Assistantship Application to the department of their program. Applicants will be notified by the department if they have received funding. Repeated inquiry is strongly discouraged.