Last April, Veronica Garcia-Michael opened a letter from the University and discovered she would be picking up more of the tab for her schooling this fall.
A graduate assistant in the school of media and communications, Garcia-Michael will be forced to pay for three of the 12 credit hours she plans on taking next semester.
The University previously covered 12 to 18 credit hours for all graduate assistants, 12 being the norm. According to University economics professor Peter Vanderhart, this is the first time the University will only waive tuition for nine of the required 12 credit hours.
“We used to cover anything up to 18 hours. We are basically being less generous with students,” Vanderhart said.
He also said new students will be the most affected by the change in cost.
Because of the changes, Garcia-Michael and her colleagues have been forced to move from a half time assistantships to a quarter time assistantships. A half time assistantship usually demands about 20 hours of work a week while a quarter time assistantship requires ten hours of work a week.
With a quarter time assistantship, Garcia-Michael will be expected to teach one class rather than teach a class in addition to conducting department research.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Garcia-Michael said about her move from half time to quarter time. “[The University] didn’t really have a choice either, the funds just aren’t there.”
The reduced time likely means a reduced salary along with the initial blow of having to pay more for classes. With some graduate students moving to quarter time assistantships, they will be left to pay for three classes while possibly making only about $500 a month.
Although getting another job might seem like a good solution, the University disapproves of graduate assistants having other jobs outside of their assistantship, Garcia-Michael said.
However, graduate assistants like Casey Casto have tried to hold down classes, an assistantship and a job all at the same time.
Casto worked a quarter time assistantship during the 2009- 10 school year, in the economics department. Her assistantship paid roughly $500 a month.
Casto also briefly worked for the University Dining Services during the start of her assistantship.
“It was just too much,” Casto said, “I couldn’t put in the hours and the effort that they deserved.”
After quitting her job with Dining Services, Casto resorted to using money from savings in order to maintain her lifestyle.
“I was really lucky that I had enough in my savings,” Casto said, “If not, I might have had to get another job or find some other way to make it work.”
Unfortunately, some students do not have savings to fall back on like Casto did. Financial cuts will likely cause graduate assistants like Garcia-Michael to take out more student loans.
Total in state, graduate college fees will amount to $4,844 in the fall of 2010 and total out of state fees will be $8498.
“We’re essentially living on student loans,” Garcia-Michael said, “it worries me a lot because we have my husband’s and my own loans.”