Assistantships

The most common forms of financial support for graduate students at ASU are graduate research and teaching assistantships.

Assistantships carry a monthly compensatory stipend for services rendered, include activities that are relevant to each student’s own program of study, and contribute to ASU’s teaching and research effort. Each department publishes assistantship opportunities. Assistants must be enrolled for a minimum of six credit hours each semester (audit hours do not count towards the six hour minimum); appointments can range from ten to twenty hours a week. Stipend amounts can vary according to the responsibilities of the position. Students who are nonresidents and hold an assistantship normally pay tuition at the resident rate.

There are two assistantship categories:

Teaching Assistants have a primary responsibility in an instructional capacity. Services provided by a graduate teaching assistant may include lecturing, leading discussion groups, serving as assistants to laboratory classes, and grading tests and papers.

Research Assistants are selected for excellence in scholarship and promise as researchers. They do part-time research as a portion of their training under the direct supervision of regular faculty members.

Applications for graduate teaching/research assistantships are available in either Word or pdf format at www.asu.edu/graduate/forms, through your department, or at the Graduate College, Wilson Hall.

TA/RA Out-of-State Tuition Scholarships. The Graduate College awards tuition scholarships for eligible, nonresident graduate students regularly admitted and enrolled for at least six credit hours in master’s and doctoral programs and who hold teaching or research assistantship positions of at least 25 percent time each semester. Please contact Heather Freireich at 480.965.5096 for further information.

Presently, Graduate Assistantships (for masters students) pay $12,225 per academic year (AY), and Graduate Associateships (for doctoral students) pay $14,125 per academic year. Student typically are allowed to teach at least one summer course, for which MA students receive $2,750 and doctoral students receive $3,250. These packages include a waiver of out-of-state tuition, a partial remission of instate tuition, and health insurance.