Graduate Teaching Assistantships

About 80 graduate students are funded through Graduate Teaching Assistantships. For the 2009-2010 academic year, first-year graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) will have stipends of $15,100 for the nine-month academic term. GTAships include full-tuition remission and health benefits. The department also has numerous fellowships available for new and continuing students. In addition, summer support, in the amount of $2,600-4,000, is almost always available.

Taking into account the relative low cost of living in Lincoln (check out this cost of living calculator to compare Lincoln with other cities in the US), our financial package is very competitive. Duties as a GTA hired at the $15,100 level will include service in four class periods per week and the attendant grading, preparation and office hours for an expected time commitment of 13-15 hours per week.

Fellowships

The department has numerous fellowships that either provide funding in lieu of a GTAship or supplement a GTA stipend. All students that apply for GTAships in our program are automatically considered for these fellowships.

The National Science Foundation -funded MCTP (Mentoring through Critical Transition Points) project will support (pending funding by NSF) three first-year graduate students and three advanced graduate students at $25,000 for the calendar year, with no teaching duties. MCTP Fellowships are open only to US citizens and nationals.

The U.S. Department of Energy GAANN (Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need) fellowships will provide (pending funding by DOE) a half-time teaching reduction and a stipend of approximately $18,500 (depending on financial need) for 12-months of support. These are also open only to US citizens and nationals.

The Department of Mathematics has several university fellowships that supplement GTAships. In particular, the department awards Othmer Fellowships to top students entering in Fall 2009. Othmer fellowships pay $8,000 in addition to the GTA stipend for each of three years of graduate study, so that Othmer Fellows will earn at least $23,400 for each of the first three academic years of their graduate programs. Students with Othmer Fellowships are still eligible for summer support.

Continuing graduate students may apply for other fellowships in a university-wide fellowships competition each spring.

Summer Support

Continuing graduate students making satisfactory academic progress can expect summer support through teaching or research at stipends of $2,600-$4,000.

Project Fulcrum

One or two graduate students in our department are supported each year through Project Fulcrum, an NSF-funded program run by the physics department at UNL. This program pays graduate students $27,500 to serve for one year as resident scientists in local elementary and middle schools. For more details, see the Project Fulcrum webpage.

Information for International Students

Financial aid for first-year international students is primarily in the form of graduate teaching assistantships, and we typically offer two to four such assistantships to international students each year. English language ability is an extremely important factor in awarding these assistantships. To be considered for a GTA, a non-native speaker must score at least: 600 on the paper-based TOEFL; 250 on the computer-based version of the TOEFL; or 100 on the internet TOEFL.

GTA Pay Scale

Pay for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) is based on the expected time commitment (i.e. the Full Time Equivalent or FTE) and the GTA's level of academic success (typically measured by success on graduate exams). The most experienced GTAs will receive an academic year stipend approximately $1,500 greater than the comparable stipend for first-year GTAs.

2008/2009 Academic Year GTA Pay Scale

The following pay scale assumes the GTA meets the minimum qualifications to serve as a teaching assistant. Students for whom English is the second language must participate in UNL's Institute for International Teaching Assistants and pass a panel review of their preparedness to teach in English. Students who do not pass the panel review are assigned grading duties and will be paid $11,500 for the academic year.

• Completed Qualifing Exams: +$600
• Completed Comprehensive Exams: +$1,200

• 3 contact hours represents 10-12 hours per week average contact commitment
• 4 contact hours represents 13-15 hours per week average contact commitment
• 6 contact hours represents 20 hours per week average contact commitment

Total GTA compensation is a combination of

• Academic Year Appointment (the amounts listed in the table above).
• Summer Appointment (in 2009 appointments will vary from $2600-$4000).
• Tuition Waiver - All students with a 0.33 FTE or greater appointment receive a tuition waiver for up to 12 hours per semester and an additional 12 hours in the summer. (Students do have to pay fees of about $450 per semester.)
• Benefits - All GTAs receive health benefits.

In considering a GTA offer, a potential student should look at the total benefits and the time commitment to assess the value of one offer in comparison with another offer. Additionally, cost of living, which is quite low in Lincoln, Nebraska, is an important consideration when comparing offers. To compare Lincoln with other cities in the US, check out this cost of living calculator.