Most students do not understand the details of how to finance graduate education and rely on their faculty advisers for guidance. Many prospective graduate students do not understand that support is available for graduate education nor do they understand what an assistantship or fellowship is. Information about these particular forms of financial support is extremely helpful to applicants and is important to put on your website in a prominent location. This section of the handbook will provide you with the essentials of graduate student financial support. The authoritative description of the details of student financial support can be found in the Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog. More information can be found in the Financials Policies located in the Policy Guide.
When students interested in financial support contact you, please reply to them promptly with information about assistantships in your program and how they can apply for one. In support of the University of Central Florida’s commitment to Equal Opportunity Employment and Affirmative Action, you are expected to consider all eligible applications.
Also, please refer domestic students to the Office of Student Financial Assistance should they need a student loan. There are also work-study opportunities for graduate students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance. Please nominate those truly outstanding doctoral students for fellowships by mid-January of each year so that they can be eligible for consideration. There are other opportunities for fellowships that may be available in your college or through private foundations.
Components of UCF Financial Support Packages
The basic forms of financial support for graduate students are fellowships, assistantships, tuition remission, and health insurance. Loans and external fellowships are also available. Some short descriptions of each follow:
University fellowships
- A stipend payment that does not require employment
- Included as a part of a complete financial package (stipend, tuition remission, and health insurance)
- Tuition remission in the form of in-state waivers
- Program requirements such as research involvement and attendance at seminars must still be met
Assistantships
- Payment of stipend for employment over an academic year or calendar year
- Included as a part of a complete financial support package (stipend, tuition remission, and health insurance)
Tuition remission
- This may be in the form of in-state waivers for 0.5 FTE GTAs or in-state tuition payments for 0.5 FTE GRAs and GAs. For those 0.5 FTE non-resident graduate assistants who have their in-state tuition paid or waived, a differential out-of-state fee of $0.00 is charged in lieu of the standard out-of-state fee. The standard out-of-state fee can be found at http://www.iroffice.ucf.edu/character/current_tuition.html
- Tuition payments for GRAs and GAs can be made by an employing unit or another appropriate unit within the university, a fellowship foundation, or as part of a formal, written university-approved agreement
- Standard tuition remission does NOT cover local fees; these may be paid by the hiring unit.
Health insurance
- UCF Student Health Insurance paid by the College of Graduate Studies for 0.5 FTE graduate assistants (one appointment at 20 hours per week or two at 10 hours per week) and university fellows
| How the Components of Complete Financial Packages Fit Together |
| | Stipend | Tuition Remission | Health Insurance |
Assignment Category | FTE | Stipend | Tuition | Out-of-State Fees | Health Insurance Paid by the Graduate College |
GTA | 0.50 | | Waived | Not charged | Yes |
0.25 (of split 0.50) | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | 1/2 waived | Not charged | Yes |
0.25 | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | 1/2 waived | Charged | Not |
GRA | 0.50 | Pay for 20 hrs/wk | Paid by grant or unit | Not charged | Yes |
0.25 (of split 0.50) | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | 1/2 paid by grant or unit | Not charged | Yes |
0.25 | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | 1/2 paid by grant or unit | Charged | No |
GA | 0.50 | Pay for 20 hrs/wk | Paid by employer | Not charged | Yes |
0.25 (of split 0.50) | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | Paid by employer | Not charged | Yes |
0.24 | Pay for 10 hrs/wk | 1/2 paid by employer | Charged | No |
Fellows | No work assignment | Fellowship stipend | Waived | Not charged | Yes |
In instances noted “Not charged”, students who are non-Florida residents will be charged a differential out-of-state fee of $0.00 that will replace the standard out-of-state fee. Thus, the standard out-of-state fee and non-resident financial aid fee will not be assessed. In instances noted “Charged”, the standard out-of-state fee and non-resident financial aid fee will be assessed.
†If the number of GTA appointments exceeds the GTA waiver allocation, in-state-tuition must be covered in the manner shown for GRA and GA appointments.
‡See Health Insurance section for details
Other Financial Support Available to Graduate Assistants
- Outside fellowships
- Financial support provided by entities outside the university
- May be eligible to be supplemented from university resources to provide financial packages. Contact the Graduate College if you have outside traineeship or fellowship agreements that may require supplementing.
- Non-assistantship employment: OPS hourly payment for employment only
- Other fellowships: stipend only
- Loans (must be repaid)
- University-administered: administered by the Office of Student Financial Assistance
- Outside loans
Student Eligibility for Financial Packages
There are three criteria for maintaining financial support. Students must satisfy the following:
- Admitted to a graduate degree program
- Full-time enrollment
- Maintain good academic standing
See Financial Support Requirements in the Graduate Catalog for details.
Timeline and Deadlines for Financial Support
| Date | Activity |
| By December | The Graduate College will allocate all Provost Graduate Fellowships out to the colleges. |
| By January | The Graduate College will allocate all in-state tuition waivers for GTAs out to the graduate programs. |
| January 15 - February | Nominate exceptional students for fellowships and send your nominations to your academic college. |
| January to March | Nominate students for assistantships so that financial offer letters can be sent to students (do not send financial offer letters yourselves directly to students). Please give your staff the information needed to enter this information. |
| April 15 | Response deadline for new students to accept offers. Contact those students who have not responded. |
| May 15 | Clean up day for tuition waivers - last day to use your tuition waivers without having them redistributed to another program. All e-PAF and assistantship agreements should start being prepared. Please give your staff the information needed to enter this information. |
| End of July | On-time payment deadline: HR deadline for obtaining assistantship documents to have students paid in first pay period of Fall term. |
| August 15 | Final deadline for all assistantship documents (e-PAF, assistantship agreement, and health insurance form) to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies: for all continuing students and new domestic students |
| August 31 | Final deadline for all assistantship documents (e-PAF, assistantship agreement, and health insurance form) to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies: for new international students |
| September 22 | For approved exceptions only: final deadline for all assistantship processing to be fully approved. |
Additional Financial Information Resources for Students
We have developed a quick reference source for policies that govern graduate student financial support and it is found in the Policy Guide. In addition, the official regulations that govern tuition remission for graduate assistants and fellows (UCF-9.002) can be found at (www.regulations.ucf.edu/pdf/notices/Regulation6C7-9.002final_Mar09.pdf).
Note: An updated regulation will replace the one with this link
Please point your students to the relevant financial information (this could be located on your website or you could link to the Graduate College website):
- Fellowships: For UCF fellowship details, refer to Fellowships at Student www.students.graduate.ucf.edu and to UCF Graduate Fellowships in the Graduate Catalog.
- Fellowships, tuition support, assistantships: and links to other sources of financial assistance: Student Finances section at www.students.graduate.ucf.edu.
- Loans: The Office of Student Financial Assistance telephone number is 407-823-2827; the e-mail address is finaid@mail.ucf.edu.
- FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), www.fafsa.ed.gov
- General sources of financial aid: FinAid (www.finaid.org), an online Financial Aid Information Page, is available for specific information concerning financial aid, grants, and fellowships from federal, private, and other sources.
- Short–term advances: up to $600 can be obtained for a number of purposes. See the Short Term Advances section of http://finaid.ucf.edu/receiving/disbursements.html
- Federal Work Study (FWS) is a program designed to provide college students who are in need of financial assistance a chance to earn money while pursing their degree. See http://finaid.ucf.edu/fws/eligiblity.htm.
- National Databases of Financial Aid Support: See www.students.graduate.ucf.edu > Future Students > Useful Links.
Faculty and Staff 
