A graduate assistantship (GA) provides a partial tuition waiver in exchange for work in a college office during the same semester. GAs are hired into positions for a specific number of credits. Once hired, you will see the tuition cost for an equivalent number of course credits discounted, or waived, from your student bill. In other words: the cost of your graduate program's tuition per credit hour, times the number of GA credits you are hired for, equals the dollar amount you will see subtracted from your student bill.

Important Tax Information: Graduate assistantships have tax implications. By law, Nazareth must report to the Internal Revenue Service the value of the remuneration including course tuition waivers in a calendar year as income you've earned.

View the Graduate Assistant Contract for more information about GA requirements.

Note: DPT students will receive a tuition waiver at the current graduate general tuition rate unless the assistantship is in the Physical Therapy Clinic.

No, students are not required to work as a Graduate Assistant. As a Naz graduate student, your coursework and academic journey is our highest priority, and we are here to support you.

You are eligible to become a Graduate Assistant if you are:

• enrolled as a full- or part-time graduate student and 
• are registered for at least the same number of course credits as the position you will be hired into.

To apply for a position, you must:

• have either received your offer of admission into a Naz graduate program for an upcoming semester or already enrolled in a Naz graduate program and
• have an active MyNaz account and email address
• have created your Handshake account using your Naz email credentials

Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job description, you are eligible to apply for any and all assistantships across campus.

GA positions are either for: 1.5 credits, 3 credits, 4.5 credits, or (limited availability) 6 credits, and each has a corresponding number of required work hours. 

Fall and Spring GA positions require:

• 1.5 credits = 5 hours/week over 15 weeks (75 hours/semester)
• 3 credit = 10 hours/week over 15 weeks (150 hours/semester)
• 4.5 credit = 15 hours/week over 15 weeks (225 hours/semester)
• 6 credit = 20 hours/week over 15 weeks (300 hours/semester)

Summer GA positions are:

• only available for 1.5 credits and, due to the shortened term length, have a different weekly breakdown of hours: 12.5 hours/week for 6 weeks (75 hours/semester)

Assistantships exist in both academic and administrative offices and in all schools and colleges on campus. Departments such as art, biology, education, admissions, marketing and communications, and many more sponsor graduate assistantships.

Graduate assistantships are available for all skill sets. Whether you are interested in administrative or clerical work, conducting research, providing mentoring, or doing outreach, there is a position on campus for you!

Yes! We encourage you to apply to any and all positions that interest you. As long as the position(s) do not require the GA to be enrolled in a program different from yours, you may submit a cover letter and resume specific to each position of interest.

• All graduate assistantship opportunities are posted through the Handshake job posting system.
• Visit Handshake to create your Nazareth student Handshake account, view postings, and submit your resume and cover letter online.

Graduate Assistantship positions are only accessible to those with a Handshake account associated with a Naz student email address.

All graduate students are limited to a maximum GA credit total of:

• Fall/Spring - 4.5 credits per semester or one 6 credit GA position per semester
• Summer A/Summer B - 1.5 credits per summer session 

If you are not hired for, or choose not to apply to, a single 4.5 credit position and would still like to GA for 4.5 credits in the Fall or Spring Semester, you may be hired into multiple positions in which the combined total credits does not exceed 4.5.

Please note: A limited number of 6-credit positions are available and are the only exception to the 4.5-credit maximum policy. If you are hired into a 6-credit position, you must not accept any additional positions that semester.

For Spring: late November/early December

For Summer A session: mid-April

For Summer B: early May

For Fall: early June

Currently enrolled and accepted students will receive an email notification when the postings are available for review and applications. All postings will be listed on the Handshake site. All applicants must submit a cover letter and resume through Handshake.

Clinical Assistantships must meet the following criteria:

• The clinical assistantship position is field specific and requires a student in that program for the role (e.g. a student must be an PT student for an PT GA position) and
• The position includes direct client/patient/K-12 student interaction and
• The position fulfills program-specific learning outcomes (e.g., skills gained/practiced in the role are directly related to the professional position the student will enter) and
• The position is not administrative in nature.