The College of Graduate Studies wants to see you succeed in your educational goals, and how to pay for graduate school is an important question to have answered. We want to make graduate school as affordable as possible. Below, you will find resources available for MTSU graduate students.
Middle Tennessee State University offers a number of graduate administrative assistantships (GA), graduate teaching assistantships (GTA), and graduate research assistantships (GRA) each semester. These positions offer valuable professional experience through hands-on learning, while helping fund your advanced degree.
Continuity: Must start your Master’s immediately after completing your undergrad degree.
5-Year Cap: Total HOPE funding is capped at 5 years from your initial college enrollment (if you finished undergrad in 4 years, you have 1 year remaining for grad school).
Award: Up to $2,850/semester for full-time grad enrollment (usually 9+ hours).
MTSU holds many employment opportunities across campus. If you are looking for specifically a Graduate Assistantship position, read the information in the dropdown above and begin your inquiry by speaking with your graduate advisor or program director to see what is available in your field of study. If there are no available positions in your program, browse through the list below for potential GA openings and see if you meet the necessary employment qualifications. Below those positions are other known employment opportunities for on campus work.
You may qualify for in-state tuition at MTSU if you are enrolled in an academic major not offered in your home state.
Overview and Eligibility
The Academic Common Market (ACM) is a tuition savings program which allows residents of participating states to qualify for in-state tuition for unique academic majors not offered in their home state. The ACM is coordinated by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB).
Who is eligible?
You must be a resident of a member state of the SREB to qualify for the ACM:
Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida* Georgia
Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Oklahoma
South Carolina Tennessee Texas* Virginia West Virginia
*Florida and Texas participate in the ACM at the graduate level only. North Carolina does not currently participate in ACM at any level.
Which programs are approved for the ACM?
Many MTSU programs are already approved for ACM – you can find a list of programs by state here. Other programs may be eligible for approval if they are not currently offered in your home state.
Regional Scholars Program
The MTSU Regional Scholars Program allows select non-Tennessee resident students who live within approximately 250 miles to attend MTSU at a reduced rate.
In order to qualify the student must meet the following requirements:
Have a documented permanent residence located in a county within a 250 mile radius of MTSU.
Include new and returning students living anywhere within the eight states bordering Tennessee (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia).
Students who qualify will receive:
A reduced tuition rate equal to approximately 48% off the standard out of state rate.
Certain students may be eligible for the Academic Common Market Program which offers instate rates. Check out the dropdown box above for more details about the ACM.Eligible States
The Part-time/Full-Time program allows students to receive an out-of-state fee waiver by working full-time (32 hours or more per week, off campus) and taking part-time classes (no more than 6 hours a semester) for at least two consecutive semesters. After completing two consecutive semesters of the Part-Time/Full-Time program, students are eligible for in-state classification. Please note that an approved in-state classification form and a valid Tennessee driver’s license are required to receive full in-state status.
Other Sources
Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) for Advanced Degrees
Effective Fall 2023 – If you received a baccalaureate degree from an eligible Tennessee institution on-or-after July 1, 2023, you received either the traditional or non-traditional HOPE Lottery Scholarships for at least 1 semester, if you have not already reached your maximum 5 year Lottery program completion limit, AND if you are enrolled in an eligible advanced degree program (i.e. Masters or Doctoral), you may continue to receive your Lottery Scholarships until 1 of the following events occurs:
The student reaches the maximum 5 year TELS program completion limit, OR
The student completes an advanced degree program (i.e. Masters or Doctoral). Completion of baccalaureate degree is no longer a terminating event.
Students must enroll in the next immediate required Fall or Spring semester after graduating with their baccalaureate degree to maintain TELS continuing eligibility. Failure to do so will result in a total and permanent loss of TELS eligibility; however, if student has a valid and documentable circumstance, they may appeal the loss. For more information on filing an appeal, please visit: https://www.mtsu.edu/financial-aid/fafsa/#lottery. Students will NOT receive a TELS award for courses attempted towards a certificate (undergraduate or graduate) program OR on a 2nd baccalaureate degree. For lottery purposes, these programs are NOT considered advanced degrees. However if student maintains continuing eligibility while enrolled in certificate program or 2nd baccalaureate degree program, does not reach a terminating TELS event, and later enrolls in an eligible advanced degree program (i.e. Masters or Doctoral), student MAY potentially be eligible to receive a TELS awards as a graduate student at that time. An Advanced degree (i.e. Masters or Doctoral) TELS recipient must maintain their enrollment status each Fall and Spring semester. (For example, a graduate student receiving a full-time award must remain enrolled in at least 9 graduate level hours through the end of the semester. A graduate student receiving a part-time award must remain enrolled in at least 5 graduate level hours through the end of the semester.) A student who withdraws or stops attending and drops below the required number of hours will lose eligibility for all future semesters, and may be required to repay all or some of the current semester awards.For Advanced degree (i.e. Masters or Doctoral) TELS purposes, enrollment status at MTSU is defined below. Students must be enrolled at least ½ time to be eligible to receive TELS funds for semester:
Full-Time: 9 or more credit hours
¾ Time: 7-8 credit hours
½ Time: 5-6 credit hours
Less than ½ time: 1-4 credit hours
Students enrolled less than ½ time MAY be eligible to receive funds for semester dependent on reason why student is enrolled less than ½ time. Student would need to complete Lottery Less Than Half-Time Exception Request form for MTSU to determine eligibility for less than ½ time TELS award
As with undergraduate TELS, advanced degree TELS may only be awarded and paid on credit hours towards an eligible program of study. Coursework Toward Program of Study (CPoS) is applicable towards the disbursement of TELS awards.
The Daniels Center at MTSU helps military students and their families find potential financial aid resources and file the appropriate paperwork.
Fee Waivers and Tuition Reimbursement
Many workplaces offer funding opportunities for their staff to pursue their educational goals either through tuition reimbursement, a waiver for fees, or through other means. Talk to your Human Resources department to discuss options to fund your education. Please submit your waiver to the MT One Stop.
This website contains information on scholarships, competition awards, fellowships, internships, conference presentations, etc. from different agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Homeland Security, Smithsonian Institution, Department of Transportation (DoT), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Students may receive funding for academic travel as funds allow if presenting at a conference. Students must have an approved travel application before traveling for funding to be applicable.
MTSU understands that funds arrive differently for each individual. In order to help students as much as possible, MTSU offers an installment plan for tuition, available during the Spring and Fall semesters. This may be helpful even if you are using financial aid for tuition and fees.
Eligibility
The total balance you owe must be at least $400 after all discounts, financial aid, and other credits have been applied to your account
Pay 25% of the registration fees, dorm rent, and meal plan costs by the fee payment deadline
Prior term charges and non-deferrable charges must be paid in addition to the 25% payment.
Terms
After making the initial 25% payment by the fee payment deadline, the remaining 75% will be payable in three monthly installments. For the fall term, installment payments are due on September 30, October 31 and November 30. Please note that the university is not obligated to send reminder notices before the payment is due.
Participants in this plan must apply all discounts, waivers, third party sponsor payments (such as employer and pre-paid tuition programs) and financial aid, including student loans, toward payment of registration fees before a payment plan will be considered. Financial Aid and other credits received after the initial payment will be applied to the remaining balance, and future amounts due will be recomputed. No refunds can be made until all fees are paid in full.
To learn all the terms and conditions for using the MTSU Installment Plan, click the “Installment Plan Information” button above. Contact the MT One Stop with questions.
