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Financing Your Education
Several options are available to finance your degree:
Tuition can be paid with a check, cash, money order or credit card in full by the due date. Tuition can also be paid in three installments. Visit the Bursar's website for details.
Federal Student Loans
Financial aid is available for any degree-seeking student who has been fully admitted into a graduate program. For more information on financial assistance through NKU contact Office of Financial Assistance or call 859-572-5143 or (toll free) 1-888-225-4499.
Graduate Assistantships
Graduate Assistants (GA) are assigned tasks that enhance their professional development or aid faculty members in their duties. Areas of development will vary depending on the assistants area of study but may include: working in a clinical setting, database management and scholarly activities. Assistants may also work with faculty to tutor, assist in the classroom or grade. GAs are not considered clerical help.
Eligibility
A graduate assistantship is a competitive position. To be eligible to serve as a GA, on must:
• be enrolled (regularly, provisionally, or conditionally) in a graduate certificate or graduate degree program. Students with non-degree status may be appointed as a graduate assistant with the approval of a college dean and the Graduate Dean or designee. Students with concurrent admission (graduate and undergraduate) may not be appointed as graduate assistants.
• have a graduate grade point average of 3.00 or above to receive or retain an assistantship.
• be enrolled at NKU in a minimum of six semester hours of credit during each semester he/she is serving as a GA. Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Graduate Dean or designee.
• provide evidence that they has the skills necessary to successfully perform the specific duties required by that assistantship.
To retain an assistantship, a GA must perform at a satisfactory level in his/her academic program and his/her assistantship responsibilities.
Payment Policies
Graduate assistantships pay the equivalent of full in-state tuition plus a stipend. The assistantship lasts for the 16 weeks of the fall and spring semesters. The work hours required per week may vary, however there is a maximum of 24 hours allowed per week.
Stipend:
• a graduate assistant is paid at an hourly rate that is within the approved range.
• GA positions that are funded through the Office of Graduate Programs will be paid at the "standard" level. The annual rates are for full-time graduate assistants; the stipend will be prorated at the hourly rate for part-time graduate assistants. Please contact the Office of Graduate Programs for current rates.
Tuition benefit:
• A full-time graduate assistant will receive a non-transferable tuition benefit which includes a maximum of 9 credits to be used during each semester of the assistantship appointment. For an academic year appointment, credits not used in the fall semester may carry forward to the spring semester but not beyond that.
• The tuition benefit will pay the regular or business tuition at the resident rate. The student is responsible for course fees. The student who is assessed tuition at the metro or non-resident rate is responsible for tuition above the resident rate.
• The tuition benefit cannot be used to pay for undergraduate classes or for classes that are unrelated to the student's program of study.
Applications for graduate assistantships are available online only at http://jobs.nku.edu.