Financial Aid

For information about fellowships and scholarships, see the Graduate Studies chapter of this catalog.

Loans

KU’s student loan program is administered by the Office of Student Financial Aid, Strong Hall, 1450 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 50, Lawrence, KS 66045-7518, financialaid@ku.edu or www.financialaid.ku.edu.

Tuition Payment

KU pays the tuition and 3 hours of campus fees of graduate students who receive appointments as graduate teaching assistants. The percentage paid by KU depends on the level of appointment.

Where applicable, staff (resident) rates are assessed before tuition is paid. Only graduate students involved in direct classroom or laboratory instruction are eligible for appointments as graduate teaching assistants and for the tuition payment program. Eligibility is limited to the term during which students have instructional appointments. The tuition payment program covers only tuition, including any differential tuition assessed, and 3 hours of campus fees. It is not applicable to the remaining hours of campus fees; KU Edwards Campus construction fee, union fee, and required fees; mediated and Continuing Education course fees; optional fees; housing costs; or other specialized fees.

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Teaching Assistantships may be available to graduate students through graduate departments. Usual appointments are for one-half-time service. Graduate students should apply directly to the department for GTA appointments.

Graduate teaching assistantships in Lawrence are governed by a memorandum of agreement among KU, the Kansas Board of Regents, and the Kansas Association of Public Employees, which represents KU GTAs in Lawrence. Persons holding GTA appointments must meet the following minimum conditions:

1. During the term of appointment, the GTA must be admitted to and enrolled in a graduate degree program offered by KU.
2. During the term of appointment, the GTA must be enrolled in no fewer than 6 credit hours a semester. GTAs who are unable to enroll in 6 hours for medical reasons or other hardships may petition the Office of Graduate Studies to waive this requirement. They must present supporting documentation and have the approval of the employing department (and the department of study if the two are different). Upon successful completion of the doctoral comprehensive examination and all other requirements for doctoral candidacy and upon completion of 18 post-comprehensive credit hours, a doctoral student may qualify for a graduate teaching assistantship by enrolling in one or more credit hours of dissertation, thesis, or equivalent work approved by the Office of the Graduate Studies.
3. During the term of appointment, the GTA must be in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward a graduate degree, as determined by Graduate Studies and the department in which the student is enrolled. Students admitted to a degree program on provisional status are not in good standing for the purpose of GTA appointments. A graduate student must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 to remain in good academic standing. If a department judges that a graduate student whose grade-point average falls below 3.0 after the first semester at KU is nonetheless making satisfactory progress, the department may recommend to the Office of Graduate Studies that the student be allowed to keep the GTA position for one additional semester.
4. The GTA must satisfy any and all English proficiency criteria established by the Regents and the university.
5. During the term of appointment, the GTA’s assigned duties must consist primarily of direct involvement in classroom or laboratory instruction.
6. The GTA must attend all orientation and training sessions designated as mandatory by either the university or the school or department in which the GTA is appointed. GTAs who fail to do so are subject to immediate termination of the current appointment.

KU also requires that a GTA’s teaching assignment be in his or her field of study or one that is closely related. Out-of-field appointments require consultation with the student’s academic unit and must follow the approval process established by the Office of Graduate Studies. If during the term of appointment a GTA fails to meet any of these conditions, the appointment may be terminated immediately without further review or appeal. Departments may establish more stringent conditions.

If a GTA appointment for an enrolled student is found to be invalid at any time during the term, tuition is assessed for the entire term at the rates listed under Tuition and Fees, Lawrence Campus Courses in the Schedule of Classes, online at www.registrar.ku.edu. The student is responsible for paying the difference between the original assessment and the final assessment. If a graduate student resigns a GTA appointment before the end of the term, tuition and fees are recalculated at the regular rates, and the student is responsible for the difference.

The memorandum of agreement, with additional information on tuition and fee payment, appointments, wages, benefits, and other topics of interest to GTAs, is available on the Graduate Studies Web site, www.graduate.ku.edu.

Graduate Research Assistantships are available to graduate students through grants from federal and private agencies and from state-appropriated research funds. For further information, the applicant should write directly to the chair or graduate adviser of the major department.

To be eligible for a GRA, a student must meet all of the following criteria:

1. The GRA must be a degree-seeking graduate student admitted to a graduate program during the current fall, spring, or summer term.
2. During fall or spring semester, the GRA must be enrolled for no fewer than 6 credit hours required for the graduate degree. During summer session, the GRA must be enrolled in course work related to the graduate program. The number of hours is determined by the adviser and must reflect as accurately as possible the student’s demand on faculty time and university facilities. Generally, an enrollment of 3 credit hours is appropriate for the summer session. Upon successful completion of the doctoral comprehensive examination and all other requirements for doctoral candidacy and upon completion of 18 post-comprehensive credit hours, a doctoral student may qualify for a graduate research assistantship by enrolling in one or more credit hours of dissertation, thesis, or equivalent work approved by the Office of Graduate Studies.
3. A student who has earned a graduate degree may not continue in a GRA appointment after the graduation date unless he or she has just completed a master’s degree and is enrolled in a doctoral program in the same field or a closely related field, or is a doctoral graduate who has been accepted into another graduate program.
4. The research performed for the GRA appointment must be in the student’s field or a closely related field integral to the student’s education (e.g., dissertation topic).
5. During the term of appointment, the GRA must be in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward a graduate degree, as determined by Graduate Studies and the department in which the student is enrolled. Students admitted to a degree program on provisional status are not in good standing for the purpose of GRA appointments. A graduate student must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 to remain in good academic standing. However, if a department judges that a graduate student whose grade-point average falls below 3.0 after the first semester at KU is nonetheless making satisfactory progress, the department may recommend to the Office of Graduate Studies that the student be allowed to keep the GRA position for one additional semester.
6. The GRA position must be approved by the Office of the Graduate Studies, the Office of Budget Management and Fiscal Services, or the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The GRA must be paid through the KU payroll system.

A graduate student who has a research assistantship appointment of at least 40 percent time is eligible for resident tuition rates. Required campus fees; Edwards Campus program, construction, union, and required fees; mediated and Continuing Education fees; housing costs; optional fees; other specialized fees; and course fees still apply. To qualify for the resident rate for fall or spring semester, the student must have a GRA appointment starting no later than the first day of the first full month of the semester and continuing through the 60th class day. To qualify for this rate during the summer, the GRA must have met the eligibility criteria for the preceding fall and spring semesters or must have a GRA appointment starting no later than the first day of the summer session and continuing through the 30th class day.

GRA Tuition Assistance: In certain instances, tuition assistance may be available for GRAs, either through the grant source or the tuition assistance program for doctoral graduate research assistants managed by the Office of Graduate Studies. Information is available in the GTA/GRA Information/Documents section of the Graduate Studies Web site, www.graduate.ku.edu. Prospective GRAs should consult the chair or graduate adviser of the major department for more specific information.

Summer Session Enrollment Requirements. The 6-hour enrollment criterion does not apply to summer GTA or GRA appointments. To be eligible for a summer session GTA appointment, a student must have met the GTA enrollment criteria above during the previous semester, be enrolled in summer session, or be admitted to a graduate degree program for the next fall semester. To be eligible for a summer session GRA appointment, a student must be enrolled; the number of hours is determined according to the GRA enrollment criteria above. Doctoral candidates must enroll in at least 3 hours during the summer session unless they have completed 18 post-comprehensive hours, in which case enrollment in fewer hours is permitted.

Health Insurance. A graduate student who has a GTA, GRA, or combination appointment at the half-time level for a semester is eligible to participate in a health care benefits plan, for which KU provides a contribution. The health care benefits plan is available to all students, regardless of employment status, but students who do not meet the eligibility criteria described above are responsible for the full cost of the plan. Information about the GTA/GRA health care benefits plans, costs, and KU contributions is available from the Office of Staff Benefits, Department of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, (785) 864-4946, or on the HREO Web site, www.hreo.ku.edu/policies_procedures/student_employment/health_insurance. Information about the general student health plan is available from Watkins Memorial Health Center.

Non-Native Speakers of English. All applicants for graduate teaching assistantships whose first language is not English, including international students and U.S. residents or citizens, must submit a score on the Test of Spoken English, administered by the Educational Testing Service at Test of English as a Foreign Language centers in the United States or abroad; a score on the TOEFL Internet-Based Test (iBT), or a score on the SPEAK administered by the Applied English Center at KU. The minimum TSE or SPEAK score necessary for an offer of an assistantship is 50 points. The minimum score for the spoken English portion of the TOEFL iBT is 24; the minimum IELTS score is 8. Applicants who do not attain that score are not eligible for GTA positions but may enroll in an English course for international graduate teaching assistants offered by the Applied English Center. Upon attaining a minimum score of 50 on the SPEAK, a student may reapply for an assistantship. This regulation applies to all students who are not native speakers of English, regardless of country of origin, previous teaching experience, or department in which the position is sought.

Other Employment Opportunities

KU and the community offer a variety of employment opportunities. For further information, contact the University Career Center, (785) 864-3624, www.ucc.ku.edu. A listing of current jobs is available at https://jobs.ku.edu.