A graduate assistantship is a part-time employment opportunity offered to graduate students, involving roles in teaching, research, or administrative tasks, along with financial benefits like tuition waivers and stipends. At NJCU, graduate assistantships are most frequently administrative work experiences and skill sets that help fulfill administrative support needs are highly valued.

Graduate Assistantships allow full-time, degree-seeking students the opportunity to receive a total of $4,000 or $2,000 stipend (depending on the type of assistantship received) and a waiver of tuition to complete their degree in a timely manner while gaining work experiences at the University. Tuition is waived at the current tuition rate only and the student is responsible for any difference.  

Prospective students may apply for consideration prior to taking their first graduate class at NJCU, however, only a student that is matriculated and enrolled full-time in a graduate program will be selected as a graduate assistant. Graduate assistants are required to work at the university in an allocated unit(s) or department(s) for twenty or ten hours per week (depending on the type of assistantship received), September 1st to June 30th. The Graduate Assistantship waiver and stipend may result in a reduction of individual student loan eligibility and/or increased tax liability.

Eligibility 

• Graduate students must be matriculated and enrolled in a degree program.   
• The student must be enrolled full-time regardless of full or partial funding.
• Current graduate students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0. (If incoming to NJCU, final GPA from last institution will be used for consideration.)
• The student must submit a complete and relevant application package. 

General Information and Requirements  

If you are a new full-time graduate student or a full-time graduate student with a GPA equal to or higher than 3.00, you may submit your application to NJCU Graduate Assistantships.

Graduate Assistantships are only valid for the academic year awarded and can be approved for a maximum of 2 years per student. However, Graduate Assistantships are not renewed automatically for the next academic year, and there is no guarantee to be selected again. All Graduate Assistantship positions are contingent upon the available funding. 

The application package will only be accepted between March 1 and March 31, 2025, via online form. (No paper-based application will be accepted). Decisions on selected assistantships are expected to be made by mid-April 2025. Revisions to this timeline will be communicated on the website.

Please note the following important points:

Full Graduate Assistantships

• Full Graduate Assistantships are for a maximum of 2 years per student.
• Full Graduate Assistantships cover tuition for a total of 18 credits (waived at the current tuition rate only) for an academic year. 
• Graduate assistants receive a stipend of $4000 over an academic year ($2000 per semester).  
• Once the student is accepted into the program, the student is expected to work at the university for 20 hours per week, September 1 to June 30.

Partial Graduate Assistantships 

A graduate student may be awarded a partial assistantship.

• Partial Graduate Assistantships are for a maximum of 2 years per student.  
• Partial Graduate Assistantships cover tuition for a total of 9 credits (waived at the current tuition rate only) for an academic year.    
• Partial Graduate assistants receive a stipend of $2000 over the academic year ($1000 per semester).  
• Once the student is accepted into the program, the student is expected to work at the university for 10 hours per week, September 1st to June 30.  

How to Apply

Submit your application for consideration for a graduate assistantship for the academic year 2025/2026 beginning March 1-31. 

GA APPLICATION

Submit ONE online form application which includes the application form with your uploaded CV/resume.   

1. Combine all required documents into one pdf file, and upload them into the application.
2. For the college that you are/will be matriculated, please use the following abbreviations:  
   - For School of Business: SOB 
   - For College of Arts and Sciences: CAS
   - For College of Education: COE
   - For College of Professional Studies: CPS
3. If you have any further questions, send your questions to graduateassistantships@njcu.edu 

Please note:  

• Paper-based applications will not be accepted.
• Incomplete applications will not be processed (i.e. missing resume, information)
• In case of withdrawal from a course, received stipends must be reimbursed retroactively and proportionally. In case of failure of a course, relevant semester’s stipend ($2,000 or $1,000) must be reimbursed, and GA will be terminated for the upcoming semester. 
• Full Graduate Assistants are allowed to take more than 9 credits per semester; however, the assistantship will not cover more than 9 credits per semester.  
• Partial Graduate Assistants are allowed to take more than 9 credits per semester; however, the assistantship will not cover more than 4.5 credits per semester.  
• Students may specify an office or department that would be of particular interest for employment, but this is neither required nor guaranteed.  
• A student may be assigned to an office or department unrelated to their area of study.
• GA allocations are assigned by the Office of the Provost; however, GA will be selected by the department/unit.
• All information is subject to change without notice. 

 For Units/Departments:

Requests for full or partial graduate assistantships are being accepted now. The deadline to request a GA is January 27, 2025.

GA REQUEST FORM

In so much as these are work-based positions, it is important that you consider both the skills and behavioral characteristics, as well as supervision support you will require to decide about a possible offer to a graduate student.

The Graduate Assistantship Program is a competitive process. There are far more applications from qualified individuals and jobs that need to be done than the university can adequately fund at this time. Not every request will be honored. All requests and student applications will be reviewed by a committee of three people from divergent offices and backgrounds across campus. The committee will sort and group applications with the most appropriate requests where it is possible to do so. Requesters will have the opportunity to interview top applicants for their respective roles before offers are presented. The target deadline for decisions is mid-April 2025.