The Dean of OU's Graduate College gives his thoughts on grad students and assistantships.
Graduate students have a critical role in maintaining the intellectual vitality of Ohio University. The current conversation regarding support for graduate students is welcome as a reminder of the importance of this group to the broader university community and mission.
In addition to pursuing their studies and original scholarship, many graduate students provide valuable support for teaching, research and administrative functions at the university, via a graduate appointment. In most cases, the nature of this part-time work is by design an extension of the educational experience for the individual holding the appointment. Teaching assistants, research assistants and graduate assistants receive stipends of varying amounts in return for this commitment of time and effort. Most appointments are accompanied by tuition waivers, equivalent to tuition scholarships, which are a major financial benefit. For example, an OHIO graduate student tuition waiver for a full-time student in 2015-16 is $4,094 for in-state students and $8,090 for out-of-state students, per semester.
For students who hold graduate assistantships, their first priority remains that of being a student and advancing in their academic program. A graduate assistantship is linked to enrollment in an academic program, and thereby provides a form of financial aid rather than simple employment. Like other forms of financial aid, assistantships provide varying levels of support that may or may not be sufficient to cover the cost of living for a student.
At Ohio University, stipend amounts for graduate assistantships are largely determined at the college, department, or program level rather than by central university policy. Stipend amounts are set in a market context, in the same way that undergraduate scholarships reflect the competitive landscape of universities and their financial and recruiting decisions. Colleges and departments consider the level of financial aid provided by competing institutions, and that knowledge informs decisions about where to set stipend levels. For full-time graduate assistants, this Fall Semester, the average semester stipend is $6,271, with a median of $6,000. A full-time appointment is defined as 15-20 hours of work a week. By calculating the hourly rate across all full-time appointments, the average hourly pay is $24.73, with a median of $24.44/hour. If you add in an Ohio resident tuition waiver, a typical student, working 20 hours a week, over a 15 week semester, paid $6,000, is receiving an effective compensation of $33.65/hour.
For graduate students who do not have these assistantships, the university has worked to stabilize the expense of their education. Graduate tuition at OHIO has increased less than 1 percent in the last nine years. For the past five years, tuition for OHIO graduate students has remained unchanged. In addition to this steady tuition rate, the general fee for graduate students has not increased. Offering some level of predictability makes it easier for graduate students to plan how to manage the expense of additional education in the pursuit of their professional and academic goals.
To be successful in graduate education, Ohio University must continually invest in an array of priorities. Student assistantship stipends are one such investment; but investments in faculty, staff, equipment, buildings, support services and other infrastructure are also critical so that we sustain quality programs that students want to join. In an era of constrained resources, optimizing these investments is always a challenge.
Demand by prospective students for our programs is a fundamental indicator of whether we are maintaining program quality, and value in relation to cost. By this measure Ohio University remains successful as a graduate institution. Graduate enrollments in our Athens programs have remained stable over the past decade, while significant growth has occurred in our online and distance delivery programs. While we cannot be complacent in our ability to recruit high-performing individuals, the remarkable research, creative work and scholarship of our graduate students provides continuing testimony of Ohio University’s ability to attract outstanding talent to its programs.
Joseph Shields is the vice president for research and dean of the Graduate College.
