Graduate School Statement
Context:
The Graduate School contributes to the financial health of Washington State University by contributing net tuition revenue. This is the revenue generated when all tuition is paid (by the student or by research grants) minus the amount waived by the Graduate School. While Ph.D. programs are central to the core of the institution, we must also understand the impact of tuition waivers on net revenue. The Graduate School contributes approximately $5.5 M to the base PBL of Washington State University.
The Graduate School is allocated a sum of money to use for tuition waivers and this is inclusive of both out-of-state and in-state waivers. These funds, in turn, are distributed to each College annually based on enrollment projections. The allocation amount is relatively stable, but does reflect both increases and decreases in graduate student enrollment. The vast majority of funds provided to the Graduate School are allocated in this manner to the Colleges and the Graduate School retains only a vanishingly small amount of funds to use for discretionary waivers.
Guidelines for Requesting and Using Tuition Waivers:
- Tuition waivers are provided for most students on state appointment (i.e. TAs or state-funded RAs). This is inclusive of both out-of-state and in-state waivers. The out-of-state amount is provided for the first year only. All students should become residents in the state of Washington during their first year.
- International students on appointment (as grant funded RAs) will receive an out-of-state waiver for the duration of their studies. The grant will pay the in-state portion (e.g. the QTR).
- Domestic students supported as RAs should have their tuition paid on the grant. Agencies like the NSF fully understand, and support, the investment in graduate education.
- All requests for additional tuition waivers should be directed first to the College administration. The Graduate School purposefully distributes these funds to the College for support of the graduate programs. As stated above, the Graduate School does not retain significant amounts of waiver funds.
- If the College is unable to provide a waiver, a request can be made to the Graduate School. These requests routinely involve special circumstances and the requester should be prepared to address these circumstances and rationalize the request. For non academic units, the student's academic unit should provide a statement of support regarding the particular employment.
- The ability of the Graduate School to respond to these special requests will be guided by our strategic plan that addresses the investment in highly capable, new Ph.D. students. Specifically, all requests for financial support and/or extra tuition waivers should address how the request meets the dept/college/university goals and encourages growth in PhD students enrolled. A three year history of PhD students enrolled, waivers used, and assistantships by type (TA, RA, etc.) assigned should be added as support to all requests.