Assistantships, Fellowships and Scholarships

Sage Graduate School is committed to an equitable, supportive and professional environment for graduate education. Graduate assistantships and fellowships provide financial support while helping students develop independent judgment, intellectual breadth, professional and personal accountability, and the ability to communicate effectively.

Graduate Assistantships provide tuition waivers and a stipend for working in an academic or administrative office, assisting faculty in research, or in limited instances, teaching undergraduate classes. For each three-credit tuition waiver plus $1000 stipend, a student works 150 hours or teaches one three-credit course equivalent. Assistantships are awarded on the basis of financial need and academic ability.

To be eligible for assistantships, students must follow the financial aid application procedures described above, including submission of the FAFSA after January 1. Students also must complete by an Application for Assistantship form available from the Sage Graduate School web page (Academics, Forms). Preference will be given to students who complete this process prior to March 1 of the year preceding the assistantship award.

Upon receipt of FAFSA information, which identifies the level of federal and state aid for which the student is eligible, the Office of Financial Aid determines whether or not the student is also eligible for a graduate assistantship. Beginning on March 15 of each year students will be notified of their eligibility for an assistantship award.

Students enrolled for six hours per semester, including the summer term, may receive no more than two tuition waivers plus stipend per year. Students enrolled for twelve or more hours may receive one tuition waiver plus stipend each semester, including the summer term, but no more than three tuition waivers plus stipend per year.

An assistantship award means that the student is eligible to apply for the open assistantship positions posted at www.sage.edu/sgs/costaid/SGSGraduateAssistantships. Job descriptions allow students to match their skills and experience to the openings. These may be in academic departments or administrative offices; selection is made by the individual supervising the graduate assistant. When a selection has been made, the student assistant receives a contract of employment which must be returned within two weeks of the issue date. If the contract is not returned, the assistantship is released for award to another student.

Student assistants may be asked to perform only duties that are contained in the job description for the position they occupy; they may not be asked or required to perform inappropriate services (e.g., child care, pet care, or other personal services) as part of their responsibilities. Student assistants are expected to be accountable and professional in carrying out the duties of the position; less than satisfactory performance may result in the termination of an assistantship award.

The typical appointment periods are as follows:

Graduate stipends are paid twice each month, on the regular pay dates for salaried employees. A form I-90 or other proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be provided to the Office of Human Resources before compensation may begin.

Teaching assistantships may be available to a limited number of students in post-master’s programs who have already earned master’s degrees and who are otherwise qualified to deliver undergraduate instruction. Such awards are contingent on departmental need for such instruction. Teaching assistants are assigned to a departmental faculty mentor who provides supervision and feedback during the teaching assignment. Teaching assistants, as with other instructional faculty, receive course evaluations from students and a final written evaluation from the faculty mentor.

Graduate assistantships are renewable each year for up to four years of study, contingent upon the maintenance of academic good standing in the student’s program of study and satisfactory performance in the assistantship position. To renew an assistantship each year, the student must file the FAFSA between January 1 and March 1 and complete the Application for Assistantship form. In addition, the supervisor must complete the Assistantship Renewal Request Form. Both are available on the Sage Graduate School web page (Academics, Forms) or in the Graduate School office.

Broughton Graduate Fellowships provide funding to selected graduate students who demonstrate excellence in research in their fields of study, without regard to financial need. To be eligible for a Fellowship, a student must have completed at least 18 hours of graduate coursework at Sage with a minimum B average and have the recommendation of the research advisor. The Fellowship is intended to create opportunities for advanced scholarly work for graduate students doing creative, advanced study and research, including preparing a thesis or final project for a master’s degree, at Sage Graduate School. Students in all graduate programs are eligible. The criteria for selection of Broughton Fellows are: a record of outstanding academic achievement and evidence of creative and imaginative problem solving. All Broughton Fellows present the results of their research at the Sage Research Symposium in the spring of each year. Applications may be downloaded from www.sage.edu/sgs/research/broughton or obtained in the Sage Graduate School office.

Awards are made three times a year: in the fall (October 21)for students working on fall projects to be presented in the spring; in the spring (February 15) for students working on spring projects to be presented in the spring; and in the late spring (April 15) for students who will be working on their projects during the next year and who will be presenting the following spring.