Cost of Attendance

Assistantships for International Students

Graduate Assistantships (GA) are an excellent way to obtain funding for graduate education. USF provides these positions to qualified students on a competitive basis.

GAs may teach, conduct research, or have other responsibilities that contribute to the student's professional development. All graduate assistants are employed by USF and work under a contract negotiated by the and the USF Board of Trustees. The GAU is the labor union certified as the exclusive bargaining agent for graduate assistants at USF.

Who Awards Graduate Assistantships?

Graduate Assistantships are typically awarded through a specific Graduate Program/Department or College. The number of GA positions that are available in a given College or Department are based on funding from the university as well as grants awarded to individual faculty. To determine if a graduate program awards GA positions, as well as the specific eligibility requirements, please contact the Graduate Program Director in your .

Graduate temporary position openings at USF are posted through Careers@USF, the Human Resources' online application system. Please visit their site, Work at USF, to search and apply for available openings.

Graduate Assistant Eligibility

The Office of Graduate Studies and university financial resources are used to support full-time, degree-seeking graduate students. To receive an assistantship, the graduate student must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Accepted into a graduate degree program and meet the qualifications as specified by the graduate program
  • Meet the academic qualifications as specified by the GA job code
  • Meet appropriate verbal test scores if English in not the primary language
  • Maintain an overall minimum grade point average (GPA) and degree program GPA of 3.00
  • Enroll full-time during the semester(s) appointed as a graduate assistant. Full-time enrollment is considered 9 graduate credit hours in the fall semester, 9 graduate credit hours in the spring semester, and 6 graduate credit hours in the summer semester. If a graduate assistant is enrolled in the last semester of his/her program of study, the number of registered semester hours may be less than the full-time requirement
  • Graduate assistants must comply with all Office of Graduate Studies enrollment requirements to retain their assistantship as stated in the Polices section of the Office of Graduate Studies Catalog
  • Students appointed with <0.25 total FTE are not eligible for tuition waivers