Syracuse University graduate students play an important role on our campus and make important contributions to the University. Their outstanding contributions academically, and as TAs and RAs, help to strengthen the University’s position as a leading institution for research, teaching, policy and innovation.
The University remains deeply committed to supporting our graduate students with a wide range of benefits from tuition assistance to subsidized healthcare.
Over the past several years, the University has worked collaboratively with the Graduate Student Organization to address issues of critical importance. As previously communicated to students, faculty and staff, the current support for graduate students includes:
- Increased Stipend Levels: As announced in December 2022, the minimum stipend levels were increased from $16,980 to $20,000 for master’s students with full 20-hour academic year assistantships and from $16,980 to $22,000 for Ph.D. students. Additionally, the University has increased assistantship stipends by at least 5% on average, inclusive of increases to the minimum for the 2023-24 academic year.
- Guaranteed Four Years of Funding: Syracuse University guarantees at least four years of academic year funding for incoming Ph.D. students through teaching assistantships, fellowships and, where appropriate, research assistantship support on faculty funded grants.
- Expanded Summer Funding: The University provides permanent base funding to the Graduate School to 70 summer fellowship slots, inclusive of the existing summer dissertation fellowship program that has been in place for several years.
- Increased Summer Fellowship Stipends: The University provides base funding to the Graduate School, resulting in an increase in the summer fellowship stipend to $4,500, up from $4,000, representing a 13% increase for summer fellowship stipends.
- Premium Health Care Plan for Graduate Assistants and Fellows: Graduate students have stronger and more affordable health care benefits than ever before. The platinum level plan is highly subsidized by the University, reducing graduate assistants’ and fellows’ annual premium costs by nearly $1,800. Additionally, all full-time graduate and law students have access to affordable vision and dental benefits.
- Increased Child Care Subsidies: To meet the needs of graduate students who either have children or plan to become parents, the University doubled the support for qualifying graduate students from $500 per child to $1,000 per child under age 6, raising the maximum subsidy per family to $2,000.
- Prioritizing the Whole Experience: In partnership with the GSO and faculty, the University has taken several steps to prioritize and elevate the whole student experience. This includes increasing our focus and resources on wellness and student life; establishing the Office of Professional and Career Development to nurture career readiness, both in academia and industry; establishing a digital platform to assist with off-campus housing searches; and establishing the Graduate Faculty Council to enable faculty to provide guidance and counsel on important issues related to graduate student success.
As we begin our negotiations with SGEU and SEIU Local 200United, our goal is to productively collaborate to ensure Syracuse University graduate students continue to have competitive wages, benefits and academic opportunities that allow them to progress through their educational journey.