Stipend Overview
The Graduate School strives to provide competitive compensation to its graduate assistants. In addition to stipend and tuition benefits, GA’s receive the following additional compensation: student health insurance plan (SHIP) premium contribution, parental leave, Employee Assistance Program benefits (EAP), and more.
Prioritizing compensation packages for graduate student assistants, above and beyond the minimum stipend, is essential to the support of a thriving graduate community. Our graduate assistants foster innovation in research enterprises, drive creativity, and energize strong teaching initiatives.
The GA Compensation Proposal was prepared and presented by the Graduate School to benchmark CSU’s compensation levels with those of our peers and aspirational peers, and to provide recommendations to enhance current compensation levels. The Graduate School encourages departments and programs to offer stipends to students at levels that are above the minimum stipends, published below, and competitive with peer institutions.
The Graduate School recommends that departments and programs implement an annual exercise led by their graduate admissions committee to review assistantship stipends and benefits at peer and aspirational institutions (e.g., Iowa State Assistantships; Iowa State Stipend; Kansas State Assistantships; Oregon State; Texas A&M Assistantships; University of California; Davis Assistantships; University of California; Davis Stipend; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Assistantships; University of Illinois; Urbana-Champaign; University of Tennessee Assistantships; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Assistantships; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Washington State University Assistantships; Washington State University Stipend; University of Colorado; University of Minnesota Assistantships; University of Minnesota Stipend; and University of Missouri).
Contact the associate dean of the Graduate School to schedule consultations on how to analyze the competitiveness of graduate stipends in your program.
2023-2024 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2023-2024 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants will be $1,882, which includes a 5% increase.
Payroll classification for 2023-2024:
- 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,882 per month
- 0.25 FTE (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $941 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate assistants be limited to a 0.5 FTE assistantship as noted in the Graduate & Professional Bulletin. Greater than 0.5 FTE appointments should be considered only for exceptional cases.
2022-2023 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2022-2023 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants will be $1,792, which includes a 3% increase.
Payroll classification for 2022-2023:
- 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,792 per month
- 0.25 FTE (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $896 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate assistants be limited to a 0.5 FTE assistantship as noted in the Graduate & Professional Bulletin. Greater than 0.5 FTE appointments should be considered only for exceptional cases.
2021-2022 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2021-2022 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants will be $1,740, which includes a 3% increase.
Payroll classification for 2021-2022:
- 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,740 per month
- 0.25 FTE (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $870 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate assistants be limited to a 0.5 FTE assistantship as noted in the Graduate & Professional Bulletin. Greater than 0.5 FTE appointments should be considered only for exceptional cases.
2020-2021 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2020-2021 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants will be $1,690, which does not include an increase from the 2019-2020 academic year.
Payroll classification for 2020-2021:
- Half-time (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,690 per month
- Quarter-time (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $845 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate students be limited to a half-time assistantship as noted in Section F.2.3 of the Graduate and Professional Bulletin; greater than half-time appointments should be considered for exceptional cases.
2019-2020 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2019-2020 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants will be $1,690, which includes a 4% increase. The increase is subject to final Board of Governor approval.
Payroll classification for 2019-2020:
- Half-time (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,690 per month
- Quarter-time (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $845 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate students be limited to a half-time assistantship as noted in Section F.2.3 of the Graduate and Professional Bulletin; greater than half-time appointments should be considered for exceptional cases.
2018-2019 Academic Year Stipend for Graduate Assistants
The 2018-2019 academic year minimum monthly stipend for graduate assistants is $1,624, which includes an increase of 2.5%.
Payroll classification for 2018-2019:
- Half-time (20 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $1,624 per month
- Quarter-time (10 hours per week) Graduate Assistant $812 per month
It is strongly recommended that full-time graduate students be limited to a half-time assistantship as noted in Section F.2.3 of the Graduate and Professional Bulletin; greater than half-time appointments should be considered for exceptional cases.