Graduate Assistantships

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.