Graduate students often receive assistantships from their departments while pursuing graduate studies. Graduate students are paid to teach, conduct research, or perform other tasks for departments. Full-time graduate students may be employed as Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), or as Graduate Assistants (GAs). Appointments for GRA/GTAs may be for any duration up to 12 months, as required by the conditions of their employment, but normally are contracted by term. GAs are appointed one time and continue until the student is taken off the payroll through a Personnel Action form.

Eligibility and application guidelines for graduate assistants are established by the colleges and departments, as are pay scales. To apply for an assistantship, contact the program coordinator for your individual program of study. It is important to complete the Financial Assistance form in the Graduate Application for Admission packet if desiring an assistantship and include on the form any special abilities, particularly computing or teaching experiences. All graduate assistants must be employed at more than minimum wage ($5.50 per hour), for a minimum of 10 hours per week and a maximum of 20 hours per week.

Part-time students (those registered for less than six hours in the fall and spring terms, less than three hours in the summer term, or less than one hour of thesis or dissertation during any term) and post-baccalaureate students are not eligible to receive assistantships.

Graduate students who want to work more than twenty hours per week must complete a Multiple Employment/Excess Hours form with the University. Students should consult their program coordinators for more information.

Each college has guidelines for determining pay rates for graduate students. Factors included are the stage of the student’s graduate studies, discipline, and prior educational or research experience.

Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) must be registered as full-time degree-seeking students, and may work between 10 and 20 hours per week regardless of the number of departments in which they have assistantship support. They may be assigned to professors to assist with research activity, or they may be assigned as graders, lab assistants, or classroom teachers. Only those graduate students who have satisfactorily completed and passed more than 18 credit hours of graduate course work in the major may be classroom teachers of record. All graduate teaching and research assistants must sign a contract with the University for employment. Graduate Assistants (GAs) will complete a time card to record their hourly work for payment.

The appropriate title to be used for students, i.e., Graduate Teaching Assistant, Graduate Research Assistant, or Graduate Assistant, will be determined by the employer hiring the student (Vice President, Dean, Director, etc.) on the basis of the duties to be performed.

To be employed, students must be classified as GRADUATE students by the end of the add/drop period for that term. Post-baccalaureate students may be employed but must be classified as Student Assistants (not Graduate Assistants). Students receiving graduate assistantships may not be simultaneously employed as a student assistant or adjunct faculty. Graduate Assistants are not faculty and are not able to receive faculty parking privileges or faculty ID cards.

Employment of International Students

Offers of employment to work on campus should be sent with the admission letter so the student can include the funding on the Confidential Financial Statement. On-campus employment is limited to no more than 20 hours per week while school is in session. Such employment may be full-time during vacation periods for students who are eligible and intend to register for the subsequent academic term. On-campus employment is not permitted after completion of the study program, unless the student is issued a Form I-20A-B to begin a new program and intends to enroll for the next regular academic year, term, or session.

Students who received a bachelor’s degree at one school and will start a master’s degree at UCF are eligible to work during the summer at either the original school or UCF as long as a Form I-20A-B was issued for the new master’s program.

International (F-1) students may extend their stay in the United States for one year for practical training after their graduation. Students should contact the International Student Services Office for details.

Requirements for Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants with access to student records must maintain the confidentiality of all student records and information. Any violation of this results in immediate dismissal. 

English Competency for Graduate Teaching Assistants: 
All graduate students involved in classroom instruction who received their undergraduate degrees from foreign institutions must take the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the Foreign Service Institute Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). Spoken English language competence of graduate students involved in classroom instruction is covered in BOR rule 6C-6.0091, as follows: 

A. Presently Involved in Classroom Instruction:

The spoken English language competence of all graduate students involved in classroom instruction, other than in courses conducted primarily in a foreign language, shall be ascertained by the respective department or college during the annual evaluation. Graduate students found to be potentially deficient in oral language skills shall be required to achieve a score of 220 on the TSE or a 3 on the LPI. If the score is within the range of 190-210 on the TSE or a 2+ on the LPI, the student may teach one semester while enrolled in appropriate English language instruction, beyond which time the score of 220 on the TSE or 3 on the LPI shall be required before the teaching assignment can be continued.

B. New Students

The college or department will make an assessment during evaluation of an applicant’s credentials of graduate students seeking assignment as a classroom instructor. If found to be potentially deficient in oral language skills, the applicant shall be required to achieve a score of 220 on the TSE or 3 on the LPI either taken at the university upon arrival or in the country of origin in accordance with a special agreement between the university and the country of origin. 

FICA and FUTA Exemption Guidelines

The university provides assistantships for graduate students to gain research and/or teaching experience as part of their education toward a graduate degree. Graduate students are defined as those with pay classifications of 9181-9185. 

To be eligible for this IRS exemption, a graduate assistant must: 

• be enrolled at least half-time at UCF, and
• attend classes regularly.

Criteria for FICA/FUTA Exemption Eligibility:

1. Graduate students are eligible for the FICA and FUTA exemptions only if they are enrolled at least half time.  Graduate students are considered half-time when they are registered for at least three hours in Fall or Spring terms, at least two hours in Summer terms, or enrolled in at least one hour of thesis or dissertation during any term.
2. Generally, students who are on fellowships are not subject to FICA and FUTA taxes, since they do not have to account for hours of employment per week.
3. Graduate students will be exempt from FICA/Medicare taxes during pay periods that overlap with the academic term and during breaks of less than five weeks.  Graduate students who are not enrolled for longer than five weeks and employed by the University are subject to FICA/FUTA.

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