A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing

post-graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

. The assistant typically helps

professors Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

with instructional responsibilities as

teaching assistants A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate stude ...

or with

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

responsibilities as

research assistants A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

, aids coaches with an athletic team, or is employed by other university departments (such as housing or academic advising). Rather than receive hourly wages, GAs are often remunerated in the form of a

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. Assistantships provide experience for graduate students, increasing their future employment options. This is especially true in U.S. college sports, in which a graduate assistant position is very often the first step on a coach's career ladder.Graduate Assistant
/ref> Graduate assistantships are beneficial to the employing university as well because graduate assistants fill positions that would cost the university significantly more to fill with traditional employees. A stipend is a fixed sum of money paid periodically for services or to defray expenses. That remuneration is termed a "fee" or "stipend" rather than salary or wages is immaterial. The stipend allows for the graduate student to focus on their studies instead of a full-time job, but only pays a portion of the income of a full-time job. A PhD graduate stipend is considered income in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graduate Assistant Education and training occupations Academic terminology

See also

References