Student Eligibility

Op3.16-1 Student Eligibility

1. A student must be admitted to a graduate program at Missouri State University to be eligible for a graduate assistantship. A minimum GPA of 3.00 on the undergraduate cumulative, last 60 hours, or graduate cumulative (minimum of 9 hours) is required. This requirement established by the Graduate Council is designed to ensure that assistantships allow the University to attract and support high quality graduate students. In very rare circumstances an exception may be made to the 3.00 GPA requirement. Requests for exceptions are to be made to the Graduate College by the department/office wishing to hire the student as graduate assistant. Personnel Action Forms for graduate assistants not meeting eligibility requirements should not be submitted unless approval to do so has been given by the Dean of the Graduate College.
2. A graduate assistant is required to complete a minimum of 6 hours of graduate course work (600-800 level) during the fall semester and 6 hours of graduate level coursework during the spring semester. A student may hold an assistantship in the summer without being enrolled in coursework, as long as they are enrolled in the subsequent fall semester. A graduate assistant may enroll in as little as one credit hour during the final semester as long as they have applied to graduate and the reduced course load is sufficient to graduate. Audited classes do not count toward the required minimum credits. Dropping classes mid semester may endanger the student’s eligibility in retaining the GA position.
3. Given Human Resources guidelines and the time commitment to successfully complete a program of graduate study and effectively execute assistantship responsibilities, graduate students who hold full-time assistantships are not eligible for additional work on campus and are discouraged from working off campus. If there are occasional special opportunities that involve additional university compensation, requests for exceptions can be made to the Dean of the Graduate College.
4. A student in a master's degree program may hold an assistantship for a maximum of two years (including fall, spring, and summer), and a student admitted to a certificate program may hold an assistantship for two semesters. A student in a doctoral program or the MS in Counseling is eligible for a third year of assistantship support. A student is eligible for a third year of assistantship support if they have completed all requirements and graduated from the first graduate degree and are admitted to a second graduate degree or a graduate certificate program. Assistants must maintain a 3.00 GPA to continue eligibility.