Guidelines for Graduate Tuition Fellowships

Guidelines

As a demonstration of its commitment to graduate education and to the critical role that graduate assistants play in supporting the university’s research, teaching, and outreach missions, Auburn University provides Graduate Tuition Fellowships to its graduate assistants who meet or exceed specific requirements. Graduate Tuition Fellowships may also be awarded to students who are not graduate assistants as approved by the dean. The fellowships are administered through the Graduate School. There is no application process associated with this program. All contact and any questions concerning availability of assistantships should be directed to specific academic departments or the deans’ offices of the respective academic colleges or schools. Questions pertaining to the Graduate Tuition Fellowship Program that are not answered fully by the material below or by the FAQs should contact the Graduate School.

The Policy

Students with a qualifying assistantship appointment of 0.33 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) or higher will automatically receive a Graduate Tuition Fellowship that pays resident and non-resident tuition (no more than 15 attempted hours per semester) for all attempted hours each semester during which the qualifying assistantship is held until a maximum level of support has been received. Students with a qualifying assistantship appointment of 0.25-0.32 FTE will receive tuition support totaling 50% of in-state tuition rates. University funded in-state tuition support will be limited to 110% of the number of hours required for a graduate degree. Exceptions to this limit can be provided with documentation of the academic need and demonstration of good stewardship of the support already provided, with the approval of the graduate dean. Students may keep up with the amount of support available to them by logging onto the Graduate Tuition Fellowship System (GTUFS) on AU Access. This online system is useful to graduate assistants for keeping a record of the support used and remaining. Students are charged student fees for which they are financially responsible for each semester in which they are enrolled.

An assistantship is qualified for a full Graduate Tuition Fellowship regardless of the type (teaching, research or other) under the following conditions:
1. The Fellow has a minimum appointment of .33 FTE (i.e., at least 13.2 hours per week).
2. The Fellow is in the assistantship for the full semester (no later than the 8th class day [5th class day in Summer semester], through the last day of classes).
3. The Fellow receives an assistantship stipend greater than or equal to the minimum set by the Provost ($808/month for academic year 2022-2023).
4. The Fellow is a degree-seeking student (although provisionally accepted students are eligible for their first semester).
5. The Fellow is in good academic standing (cumulative graduate GPA of at least 3.0). Students on academic suspension lose the benefit of the full tuition waiver. When the student is again in good academic standing, with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0, the full tuition waiver will again be awarded.
6. The Fellow is registered for at least 1 hour, but not more than 15 hours, of course work.
7. Colleges may mandate higher requirements with the approval of the dean at that college.
Attempted hours are defined as any hours for which the university charges tuition or fees, regardless of level (undergraduate versus graduate) or grade type (graded, pass/fail, or ungraded).
College/schools may provide tuition fellowship coverage for Auburn University’s on-line (distance) courses with the approval of the college/school dean.
The Student Services Fee is a reduced fee for graduate assistants each semester. For the 2024-25 academic year, the GTA/GRA/GA student services fee is $779 for fall and spring semesters and $350.00 for the summer semester.

When the support available to students through the tuition fellowship program is exhausted, they will continue to receive a waiver for the non-resident portion of tuition as long as they maintain their assistantship.

Graduate assistants who have received a 0.33 FTE or higher assistantship for two semesters of a given academic year and are not on assistantship for the third semester will receive tuition support during that corresponding third semester with the approval of the student’s college dean.

Examples

A doctoral student continuously supported with a qualifying assistantship is in a program that requires a minimum of 65 hours to complete. The maximum Graduate Tuition Fellowship support available to this student is 110% of 65 hours, which is 71.5 hours. If the student has not completed the degree in 72 supported hours and he/she retains an assistantship, tuition and fees will be charged at in-state rates thereafter.

A master’s or specialist degree student continuously supported with a qualifying assistantship is in a program that requires a minimum of 33 hours. The maximum Graduate Tuition Fellowship support available is 110% of 33 hours, which is 36.3 hours. After 36 supported hours, tuition and fees are charged to students holding a qualifying assistantship at in-state rates.

Limitations

Number of degrees: Tuition support will be provided for one of the following:

One master’s degree or recognized dual-degree master’s program;
One PhD degree; or
One master’s degree plus one PhD degree within the same or a
complementary field, with approval of the student’s college dean.

Number of semesters: Students must be enrolled for at least 1 hour each semester they receive the tuition fellowship. No student will receive more than 12 semesters of support while remaining a master’s student, even if they have taken less than the maximum number of hours for which they are eligible, given their degree program. Likewise, no doctoral student will receive more than 24 semesters of support (inclusive of master’s study supported at Auburn).

Students Supported on Extra-Mural Fellowships

A number of departments have students supported on extra-mural fellowships that perform duties as a requirement of their degree programs that are equivalent to the duties performed by graduate research assistants. Their work contributes directly to the performance of research in the laboratory in which they are assigned and to the overall University research mission. As such, it is University policy to treat such fellowships as the equivalent of graduate research assistantships for the purposes of the Graduate Tuition Fellowship Program.

However, these students are not automatically included for the program. Therefore, each Semester, each department with such fellowships should supply the list of fellows to the Graduate School so that they may receive the Graduate Tuition Fellowship.

Review the 2024 Fellowship Policy for more information about the policy changes effective Fall 2024.

Graduate Tuition Fellowship System

The Graduate Tuition Fellowship System (GTUFS) provides Auburn University graduate students with a record of their Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Fellowship Program (tuition waiver).

GTUFS shows students the number of hours taken toward their degree as of the current semester, the number of hours allowed under the tuition waiver, and the number of tuition hours remaining to be covered by the waiver.

In order to access GTUFS:

Log-In to AU Access
Click-on the Student Menu option of the My Academics tab.
On the “Student” tab, click Graduate Tuition Fellowship System (GTUFS).

If you have any questions, contact Brandi Long in the Graduate School (334-844-2125).