Graduate Student Finances

Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Graduate Scholarship Opportunities

There are two payroll systems that a Graduate Student can be employed by:

  • Wage Payroll
  • Salary/Stipend (for those on an ASSISTANTSHIP)

Note: Students on both systems can view pay information through the Hokie SPA login, then Hokie Team and pay stub information.

Graduate students on the wage payroll system:

  • Students are hired by individual faculty members
  • Students cannot work until payroll paperwork has been completed by the department
  • To track hours worked, all students must clock in and out using Timeclock. Students will only be paid for hours logged in Timeclock.
  • Missed punches should be reported to the wage payroll coordinator as soon as possible.
  • Pay periods for a student on wages:
    • 1stto the 15th of the month
    • 16thto the end of the month
  • The work week runs 12:01 am Saturday morning to 12:00 midnight Friday.
  • Students should review their hours in TimeClock each week:
    • To detect missed punches
    • To ensure they do not exceed the maximum hours per week governed by law

Graduate students on the salary/stipend payroll system:

  • Students who have assistantship contracts are on this system
  • Students are hired by individual faculty members or program areas
  • Assignments of work are given by faculty to the student. Some students may be required to work over university breaks.
  • A student can be hired as a GRA (graduate research assistant) or a GTA (graduate teaching assistant)
  • A full time work load for a graduate student is 20 hours per week. This is considered 100% of an appointment.
  • Students can be employed for different percentages of an appointment.
  • In most cases, tuition assistance is part of the assistantship contract. The base in-state tuition amount, the technology fee, the library fee and the engineering fee will be paid in the same percentage as the appointment.
  • For out-of-state students, a wavier is available for the difference between the base in-state tuition and the base out-of-state tuition. If a student receives an out-of-state waiver (also called a “UF Graduate Differential”), it does not mean the student is now an in-state student.
  • Students on assistantships must be registered for a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester (not including classes with an audit grade mode).
  • Pay periods for students who are on this system are:
    • The 10th of the month to the 24th
    • The 25th of the month to the 9th of the next month
  • Students who are on an assistantship are eligible to receive help with insurance premiums if they use the university student health plan. Please see more information at www.grads.vt.edu.
  • The staff contact person for assistantships is: Graduate Student Coordinator