Text of the Bill and a Brief Summary
- SB 760 (full text) requires each state university to waive the cost of fees for a graduate student who has a full-time appointment as a graduate assistant, graduate research assistant, graduate teaching assistant, graduate research associate, or graduate teaching associate.
What’s Next
SB 760
SB 166 has its first committee stop in the Senate Postsecondary Education Committee.
HB 631
HB 631 has its first stop in the House Education Administration Subcommittee.
Vote History
SB 760
n/a
HB 631
n/a
Talking Points
- Graduate assistants are a vital component of higher education and help assist professors to facilitate invaluable learning and research that further the universities’ goals and mission.
- Graduate Assistants in our universities teach up to 40% of undergraduate courses but pay up to 25% of their stipend on university fees. They should not have to pay to work.
- Onerous college and universities fees make it difficult for graduate assistants to reach economic stability, paying back financial resources that could instead go towards paying rent and other necessities, saving for their family, or investing in the future. As a result, we are losing quality graduate assistants to other states with better funding.
- High graduate assistant fees play a significant role in student loan defaults, damaging an individual’s credit rating and making it more difficult to get future housing, loans, and even jobs.
- Graduate assistants despite juggling course work as well as working full time hours are given a modest stipend and are often precluded from seeking other revenue generating employment because of their extensive obligations to their course work and their teaching or research positions. Yet, despite all of this, they are still required to pay extensive fees.
