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Research Assistant Appointments, Tuition
Remission, Tuition Waivers, and Student Health Insurance in Health Behavior and
Health Education
One of the most important questions entering
master's and doctoral students have when they begin graduate work in Health
Behavior and Health Education is, "How am I going to support myself as I
pursue my degree?" Rest assured, almost all departmental graduate students can get
paid work in the Department or School, at very competitive rates, within two
weeks of arriving in Chapel Hill. If you do
choose to pursue (and then accept) a research or teaching assistantship in the
Department, you will find the following information regarding tuition
remission, tuition waivers, and student health insurance crucial.
"Tuition remissions" are given to
qualifying out-of-state students who earn a specified minimum amount as
teaching assistants (TAs) or research assistants (RAs) paid by the University;
a tuition remission brings the tuition rate down to the in-state level. The
value of a tuition remission in the current academic year was $6,620.50 each
semester, or $13,241 for the entire academic year.
An "In-State Tuition Award" is the
payment of in-state tuition for qualifying in-state students; out-of-state
students who have already received tuition remission must receive an
in-state tuition award. The
value of an in-state tuition award in the current academic year was $2,739.50
each semester, or $5,479 for the entire academic year.
Please read the following guidelines very
carefully. If you have questions about them, do not hesitate to contact Linda
Cook, the Department's Student Services Manager, at lwcook@email.unc.edu or at (919) 966-5771.
- To be eligible for tuition remission or an in-state tuition award,
students must fill out the departmental financial aid form, even if they
do not want financial aid from the Department in the form of graduate assistant
positions. Incoming students will receive information about these awards,
along with copies of the financial aid form, in the mail in April or May.
The department uses these financial aid forms to create a priority list
based on need and merit criteria of all students. Students in the upper
quartiles on the list are most likely to receive tuition remissions and/or
in-state tuition awards.
- University rules of eligibility for tuition remission and/or
in-state awards:
- An in-state master's student TA or RA making
$8,000/$10,000 per year ($4,000/$5,000 per semester) or doctoral TA or RA making $12,000/$14,000
per year ($6,000/$7,000 per semester) from university sources is automatically
eligible for an in-state tuition award, regardless of the university
source of this money. In other words, students don't have to earn all
their income through the Department or from one UNC job only; they may make it from
several different university jobs. Students must, however, be classified
as a TA or an RA in each position, and they must be paid on a monthly
(not a bi-weekly) payroll. All
sources of money contributing to a student's salary will be
proportionately responsible for paying the student's in-state tuition
- Departmental guidelines for allocating tuition remission and
in-state tuition awards to students who meet the University's eligibility
criteria:
- Money allocated by the Graduate School
to each department is limited; it is therefore possible that some
students eligible, by the amount of money they receive, may not receive a
tuition remission and an in-state award, even though they qualify. Some
out-of-state students who meet the University's eligibility criteria, for
example, may not be ranked high enough on the Department's financial aid priority list
(see above) to receive a tuition remission award. The Department typically receives
enough funds to support 19-21 tuition remissions per year. The departmental
allocation formula gives 60% of the
total monies to new students (doctoral and master's) and 40% to
continuing students (also doctoral and master's). Students are ranked on
the basis of the information provided in their financial aid forms; this
information is converted to priority scores determined by a formula
adopted by the department. The financial transaction is completed "on paper;" no
tuition money actually changes hands.
-
The Graduate School may allocate money later in the year (usually
second semester) that "trickles down" to the Department to pay for
additional tuition remission awards; if this happens, we continue down our
priority list to award as many students as possible for that semester's
tuition.
- Health insurance. Graduate TAs and RAs earning more than $2,667
over the course of the entire academic year qualify for health
insurance benefits paid for by their University employers. Qualifying
students need to fill out graduate student health insurance forms and
submit them to the Department's Administrative Manager. Students not
making this minimum amount are eligible to purchase student health
insurance independently ($138.17 per month, or $1,658 total).
-
In-state tuition payments by grants. The in-state tuition award
($2,739.50 a semester in current academic year) is charged
proportionately to all account(s), paying the student's salary, regardless
of the size of the grant. Faculty working with very modest grants have the
option of negotiating with students on this point, however.
- Schedule and rates for TA/RAs receiving tuition remission and paid
with departmental state funds: The work year will include fall break and
Thanksgiving week; students who go away at these times have to make up
work hours missed during those weeks. Doctoral students are expected to work 20
hours per week from August 21 through May
11 and are paid
on a monthly basis. Master's students are expected to work 15 hours per
week from August 21 through May 11 and are paid on a
monthly basis. Students who are away for other weeks, either at the end of
a semester or during a semester, are expected to work out the hours missed
with their faculty employers.
These rates and hours apply
only to students paid with departmental state funds and receiving tuition remission. In
other words, all faculty are free to hire students who receive tuition
remission for a different rate of pay or number of hours if those students are
funded by grants. These students are free to negotiate with potential employers
on hours per week, weeks per year, and rate of pay as long as they are not paid
with state monies. Often faculty wish to be consistent in the hours per week,
weeks worked, and rate of pay across research or teaching assistants, regardless
of source of pay or tuition remission received or not. That is their
prerogative but not something the department can, or wishes, to enforce.
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