Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State will cover the full cost of tuition for all graduate teaching and service assistants beginning in the fall semester, university leaders announced this week.

The increase in financial support for graduate teaching and service assistants was identified as a top priority by the Graduate Studies Task Force, which was commissioned by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President in 2020. While individual departments and offices on campus manage graduate assistantship awards and stipends, the university-wide support ensures full tuition coverage for any student receiving a graduate teaching or service assistantship.

“Graduate assistantships provide valuable training opportunities and allow students to pursue advanced degrees with a substantially reduced financial burden, and I am incredibly proud that we are able to provide this additional level of support,” said MSU Provost and Executive President David Shaw. “We have strong graduate programs across campus, and this investment will make them even more competitive as they recruit high-caliber students from across the state, nation and world. I want to thank the Graduate Studies Task Force for identifying several ways we can continue to improve our graduate programs and President Keenum for his quick action to address this need for our students.”

Graduate teaching assistants support academic instruction by assisting with classroom tasks such as exam preparation, grading, record maintenance, along with leading lectures, discussion groups and laboratories, or serving as instructor of record on courses. Graduate service assistants aid faculty and staff members with administrative functions, with duties based on the needs of the campus unit providing the assistantship.

For more on MSU’s graduate assistantships, visit https://www.grad.msstate.edu/funding-tuition/assistantships.

MSU offers more than 200 graduate programs, including many online options, to help meet almost anyone’s career goals. For more, visit www.grad.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.