Graduate Assistantships
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Graduate Student Assistantships
A Graduate Student Assistantship is a financial award to a full-time graduate student for the period of 10-12 months. Students must be admitted to a graduate degree program and/or be a continuing graduate student in good standing with a GPA of at least 3.0. The award includes health insurance and a stipend of $24,000 for a 12-month appointment and $20,000 for a 10-month appointment. Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. PhD students will be prioritized for research assistantships.
Assistantship Job Descriptions
Graduate research assistants will spend 20 hours per week from August 1st through July 31st working in the Research Office. Their primary goal is to assist in the support of faculty research.
Primary duties may consist of:
- performing literature searches and reviews
- retrieving articles from the library
- transcribing interview tapes
- data collection, entry, and analysis
- making copies
- teaching and grading research courses
- drafting, formatting, and editing proposals
- Institutional Review Board submissions
- research poster and presentation development
- manuscript preparation
- specific assignment to a faculty member
- other research-related duties as required
Graduate teaching assistants will spend 20 hours per week from August 1 through July 31 working to achieve two primary goals:
- Assisting with implementation of the undergraduate nursing curriculum. GTAs may also be asked to support a graduate course.
- Developing personal classroom and/or clinical teaching skills.
Examples of assignments to assist with undergraduate curriculum include:
- Attending course team meetings.
- Assisting with exam proctoring and scoring.
- Assisting with health assessment and skills lab sessions.
- Assisting with grading course quizzes and written assignments.
- Assisting with special projects from the Office of Student Services.
- Providing undergraduate student academic support in nursing courses.
Examples of assignments to develop personal teaching skills include:
- Teaching a clinical group, a freshman campus culture course, and/or individual course content.
- Attending monthly faculty development sessions.
Eligibility Criteria
- Acceptance as a graduate student in the Master's, DNP, or PhD program.
- In good standing with a GPA of at least 3.0.
- Enrollment in full-time study during the assistantship period.
- Ability to work 20 hours per week.
- Completion of the online UofL School of Nursing Graduate Assistantship Application.
- Receipt of CV to NursingResearch@louisville.edu.
Selection Process
- Applications will be reviewed by the appropriate associate dean.
- Interviews will be requested with selected candidates.
- Assistantship recipients will be notified by email of the award by July 1.
- Priority is given to PhD and DNP students.
For more information about program requirements, expectations, and policies, please reference the handbook.
Deadline to apply
Applications due by 5pm.
Applications due by 5pm.
Research Assistant Positions
Currently open positions
Currently filled positions
Anticipated positions to open by Fall 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
You can work 9 hours per week outside your assistantship, but only with written approval from the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.
No, you must be a full-time student to qualify for an assistantship.
PhD students must enroll in 9 credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters, and 6 credit hours during the Summer semester to maintain full-time student status.
Positions open up as students graduate. You can apply at any time but new assistants are only hired at the start of the Fall semester unless they are existing students. Students can expect to hear back about a decision by July 1. See above for the number of open positions.
No. However, PhD student applications will be prioritized for research assistantships in order for us to maintain our Carnegie classification as an R1 research institution.
Yes, we encourage anyone to apply.
However, there may be VISA restrictions for certain countries. You can check to see if your current country of residence has restrictions at Travel.State.Gov or consult with International Student & Scholar Services (ISS).
No, but your assistantship decision could be delayed if you apply before you are accepted as a student. We cannot offer a position to any individual who is not yet accepted as a student.
Out of 20 hours, GSAs are eligible to work from home for 4 hours each week.
In addition to developing a student's teaching and/or research skills, assistantships offer a generous benefits package. This includes health insurance, tuition remission, and a monthly stipend. More information on benefits can be found in the GSA Handbook.
Currently, assistants receive a monthly stipend that equates to $24,000 a year minus taxes for a 12-month appointment. Assistantship stipends are managed by the graduate school.
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