Chapter 4
Financing Graduate Education

4.5 Graduate Student Support Plan

 

 

The Graduate Student Support Plan is a highly competitive support package used to attract top students to NC State. Under the Plan, students supported on a teaching assistantship (TA), research assistantship (RA), extension assistantship (EA), or a fellowship of at least $666.67 per month and who meet the minimum registration requirement, receive health insurance at no cost to the student and tuition for a limited number of semesters.

The Graduate Student Support Plan also provides a printable Handbook that details GSSP requirements and benefits.

 

Funding

 

The Graduate School manages the state-appropriated budget of the Graduate Student Support Plan. Payments for out-of-state tuition remission, in-state tuition awards, and health insurance to be charged against the allocated budget are administered through the Graduate School in cooperation with designated coordinators for each academic school/college. Each school/college coordinator operates within a budget based on slots (dollars) of out-of-state tuition remission, in-state tuition awards, and health insurance allocated to the academic colleges each March. These funds may be reallocated to departments within schools/colleges under the supervision of the coordinators for the respective units.

An additional pool of money is available as Tuition Remission match for colleges that raise matching tuition remission through contracts and grants; foundations; or other external sources.

The non-state appropriated budget of the Graduate Student Support Plan for in-state tuition awards and health insurance comes from the source of the stipend when the source of the stipend is non-state appropriated.

To view the Graduate Student Support Plan funding chart, click here.

1. In-State Tuition Awards

a. For TAs, RAs, and EAs on Academic Affairs budgets and ARS RAs

"Academic Affairs" refers to state-appropriated Ledger 2 funds, while "ARS" refers to state-appropriated Agricultural Research Service funds under Ledger 4. Eligible students with stipends from these sources receive awards from state funds managed by the Graduate School (within the limits of the in-state tuition award slots allocated to each college).

b. For all other stipends

The source of the stipend (or the department/college) covers the cost of in-state tuition for eligible students. When a stipend is paid from multiple sources, each contributes to the cost of in-state tuition in proportion to the percent of the stipend that is paid from each source.

2. Out-of-State Tuition Remission

For all eligible students

State funds managed by the Graduate School cover the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition (within the limits of the tuition-remission slots allocated to each college).

3. Health Insurance

a. For TAs, RAs, and EAs on Academic Affairs budgets

"Academic Affairs" refers to state-appropriated Ledger 2 funds. Eligible students with stipends from this source receive health insurance from state funds managed by the Graduate School (within the limits of the health-insurance slots allocated to each college).

b. For all other stipends

The source of the stipend (or the department/college) covers the cost of health insurance for eligible students. When a stipend is paid from multiple sources, each contributes to the cost of health insurance in proportion to the percent of the stipend that is paid from each source.