Graduate Assistantships

In general, the Department of Psychology offers graduate assistantships to students in good academic standing. These assignments are guaranteed only for a student’s first year in the program, but we have a longstanding record of funding students for the duration of their on-campus training years. The support is usually in the form of a research or teaching assistantship, which includes a partial tuition waiver. We consider these experiences to be a critical component of graduate training and our students’ development into early career professionals.

A separate application for graduate assistantships (PDF) should be sent to the graduate studies assistant in the Department of Psychology, PM 405, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2828.

Full-time graduate assistantships require approximately 20 hours of service each week and carry a stipend paid in twice-monthly installments. Half-time assistantships, which require approximately 10 hours of service per week, are far less common and receive a prorated stipend. All full-time graduate assistantships carry a partial tuition waiver. Students are responsible for books, other charges associated with tuition, course-specific fees, and health insurance. Visit NIU’s Planning and Cost Estimator for more information.

Two types of assistantships are typical:

Teaching Assistants

Duties vary in nature and may include responsibility for several introductory psychology sections, supervising undergraduate laboratory sections, assisting in large lecture classes, and facilitating engaged learning of undergraduate research assistants. Advanced students may have primary responsibility for instructing an undergraduate course.

Research Assistants

Involved in the ongoing research programs of the faculty members to whom they are assigned. Research assistantships are typically funded by faculty research grants.

We try to support students throughout their studies, but resources are limited, and support cannot be guaranteed throughout the student’s graduate program of study. Nevertheless, most continuing graduate students making high-quality and timely progress through the program receive graduate assistantship support annually.

Additional support sources exist in other university units. For example, the Graduate School offers a limited number of fellowships awarded annually on a university-wide competitive basis.