The Policy:

 

Students with a qualifying assistantship* will automatically receive a Graduate Tuition Fellowship that pays resident and non-resident tuition, course fees, and student activity fees (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. This maximum is directly linked to the minimum number of hours required by the curriculum in which the student is enrolled. For master’s and specialist students on assistantship, the maximum tuition fellowship support available is the minimum program*** plus 10 hours and for doctoral degrees, the maximum amount of support from the tuition fellowship is the minimum program*** plus 20 hours. Students are charged a processing fee each semester in which their fellowship is used****.

 

* An assistantship is qualified for the Graduate Tuition Fellowship regardless of the type (teaching, research or other) under the following conditions:

 

(a) the Fellow has a minimum appointment of .25 FTE (i.e., at least 10 hours per week),

(b) the Fellow is in the assistantship for the full semester (no later than the 8^th class day [5^th class day in Summer Semester], through the last day of the semester),

(c) the Fellow receives an assistantship stipend greater than or equal to the minimum set by the Provost ($612/month for academic year 2007-08), 

(d) the Fellow is a degree seeking student (although provisionally accepted students are eligible for their first semester),

(e) the Fellow is in good academic standing (GPA at least 3.0), and

(f) the Fellow is registered for at least 1 hour, but not more than 15 hours, of course work. 

 

** 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).

 

*** The minimum program consists of the basic requirements of the program in question for course work, along with Graduate School minimums for thesis hours (in thesis option master’s degrees) and dissertation hours. The minimum is specified for each degree program and is a matter of public record. Students may keep up with the amount of support available to them by logging onto the Graduate TUition Fellowship System (GTUFS) http://graduate.auburn.edu/gtufs/ . This on-line system is useful to graduate assistants for keeping a record of the support used and remaining.

 

**** This fee is $248 in 2007-08.

 

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.

 

Non-Alabama students holding assistantships that qualify for the tuition fellowship for two consecutive semesters but not the next, may request the waiver of the non-resident portion of tuition from the Bursar for that unsupported third semester. The waiver is not automatic but must be directly requested from the Bursar.

 

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 65 + 20 = 85 hours. If the student has not completed the degree in 85 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 33 + 10 = 43 hours. After 43 supported hours, tuition and fees are charged to students holding a qualifying assistantship at in-state rates.

 

Limitations:

 

            Distance education: The Graduate Tuition Fellowship does NOT pay for courses for which a distance education fee is charged.

 

            Number of degrees: Students with qualifying assistantships will automatically receive the tuition fellowships for one degree or for two linked degrees. It they change curricula or begin another graduate degree, the fellowship support previously received will be subtracted from the support available.

 

Example 1: A student completes a master’s degree in route to the doctorate in same discipline. The total amount of fellowship support available to the doctoral student is calculated as (a) the minimum doctoral program plus (b) 20 hours minus (c ) the number of hours of tuition support provided while a master’s student.

Example 2: A student has undertaken a dual-master’s degree program that is recognized in the university curriculum as a joint degree. If the minimum program for the dual degree is 54 hours, the maximum amount of fellowship support available to the joint master’s degree student is 54 + 10 = 64 hours.

Example 3: A student begins a master’s degree in one discipline but changes to another master’s program before completing the degree. If the first degree required a minimum of 33 hours, and if the student received 15 hours of tuition fellowship support before changing to a program requiring a minimum of 30 hours, the maximum amount of tuition fellowship support available to the student in his/her second degree program is 30 + 10 - 15 = 25 hours.

 

            Number of semesters: Students must be enrolled each semester they receive the tuition fellowship, but they are not required to be enrolled full-time. 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. It is the practice of the Graduate School to treat these fellowships as 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.