Graduate Assistantships
Graduate Assistantships are intended to support and enhance student’s academic experience through granting tuition waivers, in return for providing academic services to their schools, such as teaching and research.
General Information
Eligibility: Any graduate student in good standing can apply for GA. This excludes Executive MBA students.
Coverage: Up to 100% tuition for the duration of the program, renewed each academic year. This covers summer courses as well.
Number of awards:Varies depending upon the School’s needs. Approximately 100-120 assistantships are awarded each academic year with varying amounts of assistance up to 100% of tuition.
Award criteria: This depends on the undergraduate GPA; GMAT score; student’s time availability to work and general school needs.
Requirements: Students must work up to 20 hours per week at LAU for 100% tuition.
Restrictions: No restriction on working outside of LAU but the student must meet LAU’s work requirements first. The student must also meet the minimum GPA for renewal in next academic year.
When to apply:No later than the end of Summer (around early August) or end of Fall Semester (early February).
Procedures
Graduate students interested in applying for the graduate assistantship should submit a GA application to the School, by each term’s specified deadline. Selection of graduate assistants is made through a committee appointed by the school’s dean. Decisions are recorded in the minutes of meetings and are communicated to the applicants and the Business Office in writing. The assistantship contracts are signed by the dean, the department chair and the student.
The selection of graduate assistants is guided by the following criteria and considerations:
- The student should be in good academic standing.
- The student should not be a Special Undergraduate or on probation.
- The student’s interests and skills must fit the departmental needs for teaching, research or other duties.
- The allocated budget should be respected.
To renew a graduate assistantship, a student must be in good academic standing and must have performed the assigned duties satisfactorily in the preceding semesters, as determined by a positive evaluation of the supervising faculty. Evaluation is performed every semester using a divisional/School form.
Rights and Obligations
- To be eligible for graduate assistantship, a student shall take a minimum of 6 credits and a maximum of 9 credits in the Fall and Spring semesters and a minimum of 3 credits and a maximum of 6 credits in Summer. Students who are left with one course to graduate may be granted assistantship during that last semester.
- Students with the status of special undergraduate and students on probation are not eligible for graduate assistantship.
- Students admitted on probation will earn regular status upon the completion of 12 graduate credits with at least 3.0 average. However, upon completing a minimum of 6 graduate credits, students on probation are allowed to remove their probation and qualify for good standing if they score a minimum GPA of 3.2, with a minimum grade of B in their two or three courses and without any repeats.
- Graduate students granted full (100%) assistantship are entitled to 100% tuition waiver. In return, the student is required to provide twenty working hours per week.
- For partial assistantship grants, the percentage of tuition waiver and the number of weekly work hours are prorated.
- Graduate assistants are not entitled to the benefits granted to University Faculty and Staff members according to the Personnel Policy.
- The tuition waiver does not cover any repeated course, irrespective of the reason for repeating it, including withdrawal.
- Only graduate courses are covered by the assistantship tuition waiver. Undergraduate courses taken as pre-requisite, remedial or complementary courses are not, except in cases to be approved by department / school.