Graduate Students: GRA and GTA Compensation

GRAs and GTAs are critical contributors to K-State's overall workforce — and building sustainable compensation practices and a strong foundation for their compensation is important to the university.

As the Graduate Student Steering committee reviewed the current state of GRA/GTA compensation during the Discovery and Planning phase, the committee documented the significant complexity of how graduate students are compensated across the university. Bringing clarity and standardization will be an important step in driving progress for graduate student compensation.

Key Recommendations

Ultimately, three key recommendations for GRA/GTA compensation have advanced to implementation planning:

Increase minimum stipend to $8,046 per semester.
Expand tuition remission to include all GRAs.
Explore plan for milestone-based stipend increases.

Implementation

Finalizing the timeline for minimum stipend increases, working through complex GRA/GTA pay practices, and developing recommendations for standardized practices moving forward are the key tasks the Graduate Student Support Working Group is currently digging into to drive implementation efforts forward.

More details are expected regarding the implementation timeline as the committee's work progresses during the fall 2026 semester.