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 the availability of assistantships should be directed to specific academic departments or the deans’ offices of the respective academic colleges. Questions pertaining to the Graduate Tuition Fellowship Program that are not answered fully by the material below or by the FAQs should be directed to the Graduate School.

 

Eligibility

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 for all attempted hours* each semester (up to a max of 15 attempted hours* per semester) during which the qualifying assistantship is held until a maximum level of support has been received. Graduate assistants with a 0.25 FTE and higher will continue to be classified as in-state residents for the purposes of determining tuition charges.

  • Those with 0.25-0.32 FTE assistantships will receive 50% tuition support at the in-state rate
  • Those with < 0.25 FTE will not be provided tuition support


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 may 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. 

Graduate assistants who have received a 0.33 FTE or higher assistantship for both fall and spring semesters of a given academic year will receive tuition support during the corresponding summer semester, even if not on assistantship in that summer term.

Colleges may provide tuition fellowship coverage for Auburn University’s online (distance) courses with the approval of the college dean. Online tuition is not automatically covered. 

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.

 

Qualifications 

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 holds 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.**
  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 in the semester.
  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).
 
**Monthly minimum salaries are set at the following: 

  • 0.25 FTE is set at $612
  • 0.33 FTE is set at $808
  • 0.50 FTE is set at $1224
  • 0.66 FTE is set at $1616
  • 0.75 FTE is set at $1836

 

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 they retain 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

The Student Services Fee, required of all enrolled students, is a reduced fee for graduate assistants each semester and not covered by the tuition fellowship. For the current academic year fees, please see the GTA/GRA/GA student services fee listed in the AU Bulletin.

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 complimentary 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.

For every two FTE on-campus graduate students within a college who received full-tuition support from external sources (either self-funded or from external grants), the associated college is allowed to provide one 0.25 FTE graduate assistant with full tuition support for up to 110% of the hours required for that student’s degree program.

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:

  1. Log-In to AU Access

  2. Click-on the Student Menu option of the My Academics tab.

  3. 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).

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