Graduate Assistantships

Funding support for graduate school at the University of Iowa takes the form of graduate assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships. The most common source of funding for most graduate students is their own graduate program. Please contact your program’s Graduate Coordinator for information about funding opportunities within the department. To view a list of assistantships outside of your home department, see the Open Graduate Assistantships page (see link below).

Graduate teaching and research assistant appointments, employment terms, benefits, and conditions are governed by a Graduate Assistant Employment Standards (see link below), departmental policies, and the University Policy Manual. Base wages are determined by a collective bargaining agreement between the Iowa Board of Regents and UI local 896/COGS. The 2023-2025 COGS Contract took effect on July 1, 2023. The Graduate Student Employee Committee (GSEC) provides recommendations to institutional leadership in matters related to graduate student employment.

Student Loans

Student loans are a type of financial aid that must be repaid to the lender. While many graduate students take out some student loans, they should not be considered your primary way to support graduate education. Please visit the Office of Student Financial Aid (link provided below) for more information on student loans.

Please see the following links for additional information.