TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS

Individual departments and graduate programs administer graduate student financial assistance primarily in the form of teaching and research assistantships (GTA, GRA). They are awarded on a competitive basis.

Graduate teaching assistants (GTA) are appointed by most departments to offer instruction or instructional support in lower level undergraduate courses, to lead discussion groups in conjunction with large lecture courses, or to teach laboratory sections in scientific and technical disciplines. Teaching assistants must pass a test of spoken English if they are not native English speakers. Tuition is waived in the fall and spring semesters for students on at least a 0.4 teaching assistantship.

Graduate research assistants (GRA) are generally funded through research grants or contracts awarded to the University or by funds provided by the Agricultural Experiment Station or the Engineering Experiment Station. There is no test of spoken English required for a research assistantship. Research assistants qualify for resident tuition rates if they are enrolled for a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester.

As of 2015, stipend levels for M.S. and PhD students are $16,000 and $19,000 respectively.