Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waivers

All graduate assistantships are accompanied by a full or partial tuition waiver. All graduate assistants must receive the appropriate tuition waiver to receive graduate assistantship benefits.

The following guidelines apply to graduate assistantship waivers:

• Refer to the information and guidelines for all tuition waivers.
• Regular (20 hours per week) graduate assistantships are accompanied by a waiver of full-time University tuition (9 credits or more).
• Partial (10 hours per week) graduate assistantships are accompanied by a waiver of 5 credits of University tuition in the fall and spring terms.
• Students may only receive waivers from one graduate assistantship source for each term unless they are on a partial graduate assistantship, in which case the college may award up to 4 credits of merit waivers in addition to the 5 credits of waiver provided as part of their assistantship. Exceptions require permission from Graduate Education and Life. 
  
• Students with regular assistantships during the academic year (both fall and spring terms) qualify for summer University tuition waivers by request to their hiring unit and college. This does not pertain to students with a partial graduate assistantship.
• Assistantships should be prioritized for students enrolled in doctoral and non-terminal Master’s programs and used sparingly for students enrolled in terminal Master’s and online programs.
• Programs may provide assistantship waivers to full-time students not to exceed 3 years for master’s degrees or 6 years for doctoral degrees. Exceptions can be granted by the Office of Graduate Education and Life. Students who do not meet the eligibility requirements for an assistantship, or students who are not eligible for tuition waivers, may be offered a comparable position as a student worker.
• GA assignments outside of the student's designated college must be approved by both the student's program and their college of record. The hiring unit will collaborate with the student’s program and college of record to decide who will bear budgetary responsibility for the GA waiver. The hiring unit is responsible for the student’s stipend, and for submitting the request for the assistantship waiver. The process for tuition waiver submission, approval and application through the Office of Student Accounts remains the same regardless of agreements between units.
  
• Some programs and courses restrict the use of waivers. Students are responsible for determining if waivers can be used for particular programs or courses before seeking a graduate assistantship (see Restrictions on Use of Waivers ).

• If the assistantship will be a Graduate Service Assistantship (GSA) and it is a new position, you must apply for approval from the Office of Graduate Education and Life. This must happen before you can advertise the position or seek applicants. Graduate Service Assistantships should be related to students' program of study and contribute to their educational experience. In general, Graduate Service Assistants should not be assigned clerical duties or other duties more appropriate for hourly student workers. For approval, submit a Graduate Service Assistantship Request Form.

HIRING GRADUATE ASSISTANTS?

Submitting graduate assistantship waiver forms

• A waiver form must be submitted (by a hiring unit staff member only) every term for each graduate assistant.