Graduate Tuition and Financial Aid

Graduate teaching assistantships connect academic coursework with instructional experience, preparing you for careers in higher education, academic administration, corporate training and specialized instruction. Under the mentorship of University faculty, graduate teaching assistants (TAs) gain direct classroom experience while supporting course delivery across undergraduate and graduate academic programs. Teaching assistantships are typically awarded directly through academic departments with admission.

Role and Responsibilities

As a graduate teaching assistant, you will work closely with faculty supervisors to support course instruction, facilitate student learning and manage academic coursework. Depending on your assignment, key responsibilities may include:

• Instruction and Classroom Support: Assist with in-class and online instruction, lead recitation sections, facilitate discussion groups, and deliver lectures or lab demonstrations.
• Grading and Assessment: Evaluate student coursework, grade assignments, exams and projects; provide constructive feedback to foster academic growth.
• Student Mentorship and Support: Hold regular office hours, provide academic tutoring, answer course-related questions and guide students through course concepts.
• Course Preparation and Materials: Help design course materials, prepare instructional resources, manage learning management system (LMS) pages and coordinate classroom technology.
• Hybrid Research and Teaching Roles: Combine instructional duties with research activities under faculty mentorship for comprehensive academic preparation.

Benefits

• Financial Package: Full or partial tuition coverage accompanied by a regular stipend.
• Professional Pedagogy: Direct experience developing curriculum, managing classrooms and refining instructional skills under experienced faculty guidance.
• Career Readiness: Builds essential leadership, public speaking, evaluation, and organizational skills that prepare graduates for doctoral studies, university faculty positions, instructional design, and corporate training roles.

FOCUS AREAS

• College of Arts and Sciences: Departments across the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and mathematics (providing lab instruction, recitation leadership, and course support).
• School of Engineering: Departments offering instructional lab support, grading and technical recitations.
• Departmental & Interdisciplinary Academic Units: Specialized academic departments across campus administering course-based instruction and student learning support.

Graduate research assistantships connect academic coursework with high-impact scholarly inquiry, preparing graduate students for careers in academia, industry R&D, policy centers and specialized technical sectors. Designed to integrate directly with your degree or field of study, these assistantships allow students to work alongside faculty researchers and principal investigators on cutting-edge initiatives. Research assistantships are typically awarded directly through academic departments or with individual principal investigators (PIs). 

Role and Responsibilities

As a graduate research assistant, you will contribute directly to active research studies, grant-funded projects or hybrid teaching-research roles. Key responsibilities include:

• Study Execution and Data Analysis: Design experiments, collect and analyze complex dataset structures, run laboratory or computational trials, and interpret findings.
• Scholarly Writing and Grant Development: Conduct comprehensive literature reviews, draft reports, co-author peer-reviewed journal publications and assist faculty with competitive grant proposals.
• Laboratory and Technical Management: Oversee specialized equipment, maintain lab safety protocols, manage experimental samples and direct undergraduate research helpers.
• Hybrid Teaching and Research Integration: Support instructional labs or recitations while simultaneously conducting degree-aligned research under departmental mentorship.

Benefits

• Financial Package: Tuition coverage and stipends provided through university assistantship funds or sponsored research grants.
• Degree Integration: Direct alignment between your assistantship duties and your master’s or doctoral thesis, dissertation or capstone requirements.
• Career Readiness: Develop highly marketable expertise in quantitative/qualitative methodologies, technical writing, grant administration and project execution that launch graduates into Ph.D. programs, corporate R&D, government agencies and clinical research organizations.

Focus Areas

• Engineering and Applied Sciences: Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Materials, Chemical, and Civil Engineering labs; UD Research Institute (UDRI) projects.
• Natural Sciences and Health: Biology, Physics, Environmental Science, Pre-Health, and Clinical Performance labs.
• Computer and Data Sciences: Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics
• Business and Behavioral Research: Economics, Analytics, Finance, Marketing, and Applied Decision-Making research groups.

Administrative graduate assistantships are designed to apply your academic insights directly to real-world campus operations. You'll bridge academic learning with professional operations, preparing you for your future career.

Role and Responsibilities

As an Administrative Graduate Assistant, you will support the efficient functioning of key campus departments, staff offices, or student communities. Depending on your specific role—such responsibilities may include:

• Departmental Operations and Communications: Manage office workflows, event coordination, customer service, data entry and record-keeping across academic and administrative units.
• Student Experience and Engagement: Partner with campus units to foster an inclusive, vibrant campus culture through student/group advising, leadership development workshops, program planning and student-centered support initiatives that enhance overall student success and co-curricular involvement of the university campus. 
• Student Mentorship and Support: Deliver co-curricular support, informal counseling to enrich the educational and lived experience of the student experience.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Funding: Financial assistance through tuition benefits and stipends. Some roles include additional benefits like housing support (for residential roles).
• Cross-Disciplinary Experience: Open to graduate students across diverse academic disciplines seeking to develop practical management, administrative and leadership capabilities.
• Career Readiness: Build high-demand transferable skills — including supervision, logistical management, project coordination, data administration and student support services — that prepare graduates for their future careers. 

Focus Areas

• Student Engagement and Campus Life Operations: Student-related services/activities, leadership and community services initiatives.
• Academic Success and Belonging: Belonging and student success, advising and mentorship, learning resources, outreach and equity initiatives.
• Institutional Operations and Admissions: Undergraduate/graduate admission, graduate student services,  orientation programs, administrative operations, and survey data and analytics.

The UD Campus Ministry graduate assistant program prepares graduate students for impactful careers in  youth, campus and parish ministry, mission-based organizations like higher education, healthcare and non-profit leadership. Rooted in a vibrant Catholic, Marianist charism, this hands-on experience combines personalized ministerial portfolios with collaborative, ongoing theological formation and prayerful discernment. The position selection process takes place starting in February and is ongoing until positions are filled. Roles typically begin in August.

Role and Responsibilities

As a Campus Ministry graduate assistant, you will serve alongside other campus ministers to cultivate the faith life of the university community. Your custom hands-on portfolio may include:

• Pastoral Care: Provide active listening, guidance and personal support to undergraduate students navigating their faith and personal development.
• Faith Formation and Christian Discipleship: Develop and lead faith formation and catechetical initiatives to form intentional disciples. 
• Retreat and Small Group Leadership: Plan and facilitate retreats, small faith-sharing groups and workshops that foster spiritual growth and community.
• Liturgy  Coordinate and support liturgical celebrations and prayer services.
• Justice and Service: Lead community-engaged service, social justice advocacy work and train student leaders to nurture human dignity and contribute to the common good.

Benefits

• Tuition Funding: Includes tuition coverage, housing and a stipend.
• Flexible Academic Pathways: Open to graduate students studying theology, educational leadership, clinical mental health or public administration.
• Ministry and Career Readiness: Build versatile skills — from pastoral care and accompaniment to program planning to volunteer management — that launch alumni into roles across campus ministry, PreK–12 & parish ministry, chaplaincy, clinical mental health and non-profit leadership.

In order to be considered for an assistantship, students must be a full-time graduate students in good standing. Only students who meet the requirements of the assistantship position will receive an offer. Because each program/department has specific needs, only the programs to which you are applying to will review your application for an assistantship.

Graduate assistantships are considered part-time employment. Students will work up to 20 hours per week. The department or program in which a student is hired will determine the work schedule. Graduate assistant positions working less than 20 hours per week are not benefits eligible.

Compensation is in the form of a stipend and possible tuition remission. A stipend is a set amount that is paid over a specific time. Graduate assistants are paid twice per month on the 10th and 25th.

Tuition remission is how the university refers to paying for your tuition. As part of your contract, the university may pay for all or part of your tuition as part of your assistantship. The amount of tuition remission is determined by the department or program.

Some assistantships have additional benefits such as room and board depending on the type of assistantship and where the student will work. Room and board costs are generally only covered for assistantships in which students live in university housing through Student Development.

At the time of the offer, the department or program representative who is authorized to hire graduate assistants will issue a contract outlining duties and responsibilities, the amount of the stipend, and how much tuition remission will be paid.

Yes. At this time the university provides health benefits to graduate assistants who work 20 hours per week. The health insurance program that is offered is for single coverage only, meaning that only the graduate assistant is covered. At this time there is not coverage available for dependents.

Depending on the needs of your program or department, a graduate assistant contract can be written for up to one year. There are instances where contracts are for one semester, two semesters, summer semester only or for a full calendar year.

In general, background checks and drug tests are offered to those who work with children, government or some type of community program. There could be instances where applicants are asked to provide a background check depending on the type of work they will be doing, such as working with state or federal contractors.