Graduate Assistantships

Eligibility and Requirements

• Eligibility for an assistantship is limited to graduate students who are officially accepted into a degree seeking program and who are registered full-time in graduate level courses for the fall and spring terms.
  • Full-time enrollment is considered nine (9) credit hours of graduate level courses for masters students, six (6) credit hours of graduate level courses for doctoral students.
  • In special circumstances for students graduating at the end of a term, a reduction in class load may be approved. An Assistantship Criteria Exception Form will be required detailing the reasons for not being enrolled full-time. For the summer term only, the Assistantship Criteria Exception Form is waived for reduced enrollment.
• All graduate assistants are required to uphold a 3.0 cumulative GPA to maintain their award.
• Graduate assistants are typically not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week in all combined assistantship and student positions at UNF. Support, A&P, and faculty staff are not allowed to hold an assistantship position. Students who have been awarded assistantships are strongly discouraged from obtaining full-time employment outside the university.
• As required by Florida Statute 1010.35, the University of North Florida will collect additional information from applicants seeking research or research-support (Graduate Research Assistant) positions prior to an interview or an offer of employment. This information is not used in the evaluation of qualifications for the position. Your hiring department will provide you with the Graduate Foreign Influence Review Form link.
• Students registered with the DRC are encouraged to contact the Graduate School for information about how accommodations and exceptions may impact eligibility.
• Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to enroll in the Graduate School Canvas GTA Orientation or a department led GTA orientation.

Waiver Information

• An in-state tuition waiver will be awarded to select graduate students hired at a minimum of .25 FTE (minimum of 10 hours per week) as a graduate assistant, graduate teaching assistant, or graduate research assistant. Please note, not all positions are awarded in-state tuition waiver. The Dean of the college in which your program of study is housed approves in-state waiver and notifies the Graduate School prior to it being awarded. When hired, your department should let you know if you will receive a tuition waiver. Students are liable for tuition not covered by the in-state waiver, and fees.
• In accordance with university regulations, a graduate student hired at a minimum of .25 FTE (minimum of 10 hours per week) as a graduate assistant, graduate teaching assistant, or graduate research assistant, and who is, for tuition purposes, an out-of-state resident, will have the out-of-state tuition waiver applied to their account. The out-of-state tuition waiver waives out-of-state tuition and partial out-of-state financial aid fee for the duration of an assistantship position. Students are liable for in-state tuition (unless awarded an in-state waiver), and fees. 
• Waiver is only applied towards graduate level tuition.
• ​​​​​​​Fees* are not covered. *Portion of the out-of-state financial aid fee is covered with an out-of-state waiver
• In-state tuition waiver is determined from the position hours and is pro-rated based on enrollment of up to nine (9) graduate credit hours.
• Waiver is only good for the semesters during which the student is employed. Eligibility requirements must be maintained throughout the semester.
• If the position is terminated or the student withdraws from courses before the final deadline to withdraw from the term in which the position is held, the waiver will be adjusted accordingly. This may result in an outstanding balance being owed. Refer to the Academic Calendar for the final withdrawal deadline.
• Student's are required to contact us if enrollment changes after the date the waiver was applied. 

Assistantship Types

• Graduate Assistant
  • Performs general educational administration duties, and has no research and teaching responsibilities.
• Graduate Research Assistant
  • Involved in faculty-supervised research, but has no teaching responsibilities.
• Graduate Teaching Assistant
  • Performs teaching duties under the supervision of an appropriate faculty member or administrator of a State University. This person may be the instructor of record for a course or a portion of a course.