Graduate Assistantships offer an outstanding opportunity for a graduate student to gain research, teaching, or service experience while benefiting from wages, tuition remission, and healthcare benefits. Each type of assistantship affords the student an exceptional opportunity to enhance their discipline-specific knowledge and cultivate a rich set of skills applicable to any profession. Being awarded a graduate assistantship is notable, leading to an impressive addition to a resume.

Graduate Research Assistantships are common in science and engineering disciplines with some assistantships available in other disciplines. Graduate Research Assistants work in laboratories, in the field, and other settings where faculty conduct their research projects. Working alongside highly-accomplished faculty, a Graduate Research Assistant has access to state-of-the-art research with a faculty mentor supporting the student’s learning. 

Graduate Teaching Assistantships involve the student in university-level teaching including teaching courses, leading a discussion section, supervising a laboratory, grading papers, meeting with students, and other work related to delivering instruction and assessing student learning. The teaching load varies based upon the structure of courses, content delivery, and learning within the discipline. The Teaching Assistantship may include in-person, on-line, or hybrid teaching.

Graduate Service Assistantships employ the student in a support role to a university unit whose mission is often related to the student's area of academic interest. A Service Assistant performs a variety of duties aligned with the unit’s mission including office duties, library services, residence hall duties, athletic services, or other academic or professional assignments. The administrative functions within a service unit afford the Graduate Service Assistant opportunity to acquire and expand their professional skill set.

Eligibility

To qualify for a Graduate Assistantship, the student must be in good academic standing with a minimum overall 3.0 gpa. The student must be able to attend graduate school full-time (i.e., enrolled in at least 6 credits) throughout their assistantship in courses directly fulfilling their official degree plan. Graduate Assistantships are competitive and will be awarded by the academic unit based upon eligibility and the required experience stated in the job posting.

For graduate assistant postings, visit UA Careers.