What Are TA, RA and GA Positions? How Graduate Assistantships Actually Work
Asked on the help desk, 2014: “What are TA/RA/GA?”
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A graduate student who has never had to think about funding usually has a good assistantship. The rest learn these three letters the hard way, in March, holding an offer letter that says “0.5 FTE GA, Office of Residence Life” and wondering whether that is a good thing.
Often it is. Sometimes it is not. The letters matter less than what sits behind them: how many hours, what work, whether tuition is covered, and for how long.
From the lab side, here is how the system works.
The basic bargain
Most funded graduate students in the U.S., especially PhD students, are paid through an assistantship. You work for the university part time, and in return you get:
- A stipend, paid like a salary, monthly or every two weeks
- Tuition remission or a waiver, so you pay little or no tuition
- Often, subsidized or fully paid health insurance
The standard appointment is “half-time,” commonly listed as 0.5 FTE, which usually means around 20 hours of work per week. Some schools use quarter-time (about 10 hours) appointments, which may come with a partial tuition waiver and a smaller stipend. Read the percentage on your offer; it decides most of what follows.
Teaching assistantships (TA)
A TA helps teach undergraduate courses. Depending on the department and your experience, that can mean:
- Leading discussion sections or labs
- Grading homework and exams
- Holding office hours
- Writing problem sets or exam questions
- In later years, teaching a course as the instructor of record
TA positions are usually funded by the department’s teaching budget, which makes them relatively stable. The trade-off is time: twenty hours of grading during midterms is twenty hours not spent on research, and the hours can bunch up badly near exams.
International students often need to pass an English proficiency or teaching assessment before being allowed to teach in a classroom. Many universities run their own spoken English test for this. Ask early, because failing it can push you into a different type of funding.
Research assistantships (RA)
An RA works on a faculty member’s research project, usually funded by an external grant from an agency like the NSF, NIH, DOE or a foundation, or an industry contract. In the best case, the research you are paid to do is your own dissertation work, so the “job” and your degree are the same hours.
A typical example from the archive is an NIH award on alcohol and microglia at the University of Iowa. The record shows a single budget year of about $209,000, and in a lab grant of that size the personnel line is where graduate RA salaries usually sit.
RAs depend on the grant. When the grant ends, the RA may end too, unless the professor has another grant or the department has a backstop. This is why Edyssy always encouraged applicants to look at the money first: a professor with a fresh multi-year grant can usually fund a student for several years, and you can check this before you apply using the grant search. If you are writing to a professor about an RA, our sample email to contact a professor shows how to ask about funding without sounding like you only care about the money.
Graduate assistantships (GA)
“GA” is the broadest label and the most variable. It can mean an administrative or support role anywhere in the university: an academic advising office, a writing center, a library, residence life, student affairs, a research center, IT. Some departments use “GA” for what is essentially a TA or RA, just with different paperwork.
GA positions are common in master’s programs that do not fund students directly, and in fields like education, student affairs, and public administration. They can be an excellent way to pay for a master’s degree, sometimes covering tuition entirely. The work may have nothing to do with your field, which is fine if you know that going in.
Many GA positions are posted by individual offices rather than through admission, so they are found by applying around campus, sometimes after you are admitted. Our page on assistantship types lists where to look.
Fellowships
A fellowship is funding with no work obligation. You are paid to study and do research. Sources include:
- The university itself (often for first-year students or top admits)
- Federal programs, such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which pays a $37,000 annual stipend plus a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance to the school, for three years of support used within five years
- Foundations and private organizations
- Industry fellowships at some large tech and research companies
Fellowships give you freedom: you can choose an advisor without needing them to fund you, and you are cheaper for a lab to take on. They look very good on a CV. The catch is mostly administrative and tax-related, covered below.
Side-by-side comparison
| TA | RA | GA | Fellowship | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work required | Teaching support, grading, sections | Research on a funded project | Administrative or support work, varies widely | None (research expected) |
| Typical load | Often ~20 h/week (half-time) | Often ~20 h/week, often blends with thesis work | Often 10–20 h/week | No set hours |
| Funded by | Department teaching budget | Faculty grant or contract | Hiring office or department | University, government or private funder |
| Stability | Relatively stable | Depends on grant duration | Depends on office budget | Fixed term, often 1–5 years |
| Tuition | Usually waived for half-time | Usually waived for half-time | Often waived, sometimes partially | Usually covered, check terms |
| Health insurance | Often included | Often included | Varies | Varies, sometimes paid separately |
| Taxes (U.S.) | Wages, withholding on paycheck | Wages, withholding on paycheck | Wages, withholding on paycheck | Often no withholding; living portion usually still taxable |
| Best for | Teaching experience, steady funding | Thesis progress, lab integration | Paying for a master’s, varied skills | Independence, choice of advisor |
Unions
At a number of U.S. universities, graduate student workers are represented by labor unions. Public universities fall under state labor law, and several states allow graduate student unions. At private universities, the National Labor Relations Board has treated graduate assistants as employees in recent years, and many private schools now have unions too. Where a union exists, a collective bargaining agreement may set minimum stipends, maximum hours, health benefits, leave and grievance procedures.
Whether a union is good or bad for you is a political question we will leave aside. Practically: if your university has one, read the contract. It often answers questions your offer letter does not, such as whether 20 hours per week is a hard cap.
International students and work limits
Students on an F-1 visa can generally work on campus up to 20 hours per week while school is in session, and full time during official breaks such as summer and winter vacation, if they are enrolled and plan to register for the next term. The 20-hour cap is spelled out on DHS’s Study in the States page on working in the U.S., and the regulation itself, 8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(i), adds the full-time allowance when school is not in session and treats on-campus work done under the terms of an assistantship as part of the academic program. A half-time assistantship counts as on-campus employment and generally uses up the full 20 hours. Your DSO also has to approve the job in writing before you can apply for a Social Security number, so start that paperwork as soon as you arrive. That means you usually cannot add another on-campus job during the semester.
Off-campus work for F-1 students requires separate authorization, such as Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Optional Practical Training (OPT), and comes with its own rules. J-1 students have different rules set through their program sponsor. Always confirm with your university’s international student office before taking on extra work. Visa status problems are much harder to fix than to avoid.
Taxes on stipends, in general terms
This is general information about U.S. rules, not tax advice.
- TA, RA and most GA stipends are wages. You receive a W-2, and income tax is withheld from your paycheck. Students working for their own university are often exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes on that pay under the IRS student exception to FICA, which turns on whether education or employment is the predominant part of the relationship, so rules vary by school.
- Tuition waivers for degree candidates, used for tuition and required fees, are generally not taxable. For graduate students the specific rule is in IRS Publication 970: a tuition reduction is tax free if you are a graduate student doing teaching or research for the institution that grants it, while other graduate tuition reductions, and any part that is really payment for your services, count as income.
- Fellowship money used for living expenses is generally taxable income, even though the university often does not withhold tax and may not send a W-2. Fellows may need to pay estimated taxes quarterly to avoid penalties.
- International students are taxed under different rules, which may include tax treaties between the U.S. and their home country. Many universities provide free software or workshops for nonresident tax filing.
Every spring, someone on a fellowship discovers they owe a few thousand dollars they did not set aside. Set some aside.
What to ask before accepting
Before you sign, get answers in writing to these:
- What is the appointment percentage, and how many hours per week does that mean in practice?
- Is the stipend paid over nine months or twelve? Is summer funded?
- Does the tuition waiver cover all tuition, or only part? Which fees remain?
- Is health insurance included for me, and for dependents?
- How many years of funding are guaranteed, and under what conditions?
- If this is an RA, what happens if the grant ends?
Then compare offers on those answers, not on the headline stipend. Our guide to weighing funded offers works through how. A higher stipend that leaves you paying fees and insurance can turn out to be the smaller offer, and the student who checks this in March is the one who is not surprised by a bill in September.
More questions on this
- Is a TA or an RA better for a PhD student?
- An RA is usually better for progress, because the work you are paid for is often your own thesis research. A TA gives teaching experience and steadier department funding, but it takes time away from research. Many students do both at different points, and a mix is normal.
- Can I hold a 20-hour assistantship and an on-campus job at the same time?
- It depends on the university's rules and your visa. Many schools cap total employment for graduate students around half-time during the semester, and F-1 students are limited to 20 hours per week of on-campus work while school is in session. Ask your graduate school or international office before accepting extra work.
- Do I pay tax on my graduate stipend?
- Usually yes, at least in part. In the U.S., wages from TA and RA positions are generally taxable, and fellowship money used for living expenses is generally taxable too, even if nothing is withheld. Tuition waivers for degree candidates are generally not taxable. Check with your university's payroll office or a tax professional for your situation.
- What happens to my assistantship if I fail a course or my advisor loses a grant?
- Most assistantships require good academic standing, often a minimum GPA, and can be suspended if you fall below it. If an RA's grant ends, many departments try to move the student to a TA or another grant, but that is not always guaranteed. Ask how your department handles this before you accept the offer.