In conjunction with the WVU Office of Graduate Education and Life, the College of Creative Arts provides University Graduate Tuition Waivers on a competitive and limited basis to enhance and enrich the effectiveness of its graduate programs.
The College divides University Graduate Tuition Waivers into two categories.
- University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waivers: University graduate tuition waiver hours awarded to a graduate student who is also employed as a full time Graduate Teaching Assistant with the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University.
- Meritorious Graduate Waiver Hours: University graduate tuition waiver hours awarded to a graduate student in one of the Schools within the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University.
Graduate students who may receive University graduate tuition waivers, “in‐state”
or “out‐of‐state” residency is determined by the same criteria that are applied
to all other graduate students at West Virginia University. The Dean of the
College of Creative Arts (or his/her designee) oversees the process of awarding
and assessing all University Graduate Tuition Waivers for the College. By
direction of the Dean, it shall be the responsibility of the Director of each School
within the College of Creative Arts (or his/her designee) to work directly with
the College’s Student Records Assistant to provide all necessary information and
complete any paperwork for awarding any student University Graduate Tuition Waivers.
The actual submission of any and all forms, paperwork and information pertaining to the allocation, award and renewal of any University Graduate Tuition Waivers to the Office of Graduate Education and Life and Admissions and Records will be the responsibility of the College of Creative Arts’ Student Records Assistant.
The submission of all information and paperwork is subject to deadlines established by the Office of Graduate Education and Life and Admissions and Records.
Unless directly authorized by the Dean of the College of Creative Arts, no other faculty and/or staff member is authorized to request any University Graduate Tuition Waivers from the Office of Graduate Education and Life, and nor may any faculty and/or staff member allocate and/or award University Graduate Tuition Waivers which fall under the jurisdiction of the College.
A student may not receive both a University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver and Meritorious Graduate Waiver Hours during the same semester.
University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waivers
To be eligible for a University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver, a student must:
- Be currently admitted and enrolled as a degree seeking graduate student and have an active contract as a graduate assistant at West Virginia University.
- Be in good academic standing at West Virginia University.
- Be making satisfactory progress toward the completion of a graduate level course of study at West Virginia University. Have a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.00 or higher.
A student with a graduate assistantship for a period of one semester will receive
a full tuition waiver for the semester that they hold the graduate assistantship. A
student with a graduate assistantship for a full academic year will receive University
Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver for the regular nine‐month academic year.
In order to receive an assistantship and the accompanying University Graduate Assistantship
Tuition Waiver a graduate student must be enrolled in a minimum of nine (9) graduate
hours at WVU during each semester of employment.
Assistantship Assignments
Generally, a College of Creative Arts graduate assistantship with a University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver requires the recipient to have an assignment of duties related to the recipients’ program of study or in an area of service linked to the administration of the College of one of its Schools. Upon exception from the Dean, an assistantship with University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver may be awarded to a full‐time graduate student at WVU who is pursuing a course of study external to the College of Creative Arts. In such cases, the assistantship duties must still be performed solely for the College of Creative Arts or one of its internal units.
Renewal
The renewal of a graduate assistantship must be based on a satisfactory annual, written evaluation by the unit with respect to both performance in the assistantship and progress toward the recipient’s completion of the degree. The renewal of any assistantship and receipt of the corresponding Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waivers cannot be guaranteed beyond the dates stated in the initial letter of assistantship appointment. It remains the assumption of the College of Creative Arts that pending the continuation of all other stated criteria, a Graduate Assistantship with a University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver will be renewed for duration of a student’s course of study as stated in the program’s graduate catalog description. If an assistantship is terminated, the corresponding University Graduate Assistantship Tuition Waiver will also terminate at the conclusion of the semester during which the assistantship ended.
Fees and College Tuition
The graduate assistant is responsible for full payment of all fees and College tuition as listed in the tuition and fee schedule published for each academic year. College tuition is not the same as any University Graduate Tuition covered by a University Graduate Tuition Waiver awarded with an active assistantship. College of Creative Arts graduate assistantships do not carry summer tuition waivers.
Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers
To be eligible for Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers, a student must:
- Be currently admitted and enrolled as a degree seeking graduate student in one of the Schools within the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University.
- Be in good academic standing at West Virginia University.
- Be making satisfactory progress toward the completion of a graduate level course of study at West Virginia University.
- Have a cumulative graduate GPA of 3.00 or higher.
Purpose
Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers are to be used primarily for the recruitment,
retention and graduation of high quality graduate students and for increasing the
diversity of graduate student population of the College of Creative Arts. It
is the philosophy of the College the Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers are a
form of academic scholarship for outstanding graduate students and that they should
be considered part of total financial aid package.
With permission from the Dean, Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers may be awarded
to a College staff member for coursework approved by the immediate supervisor.
Number of Hours Available to the College
The number of Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers allocated to the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University is determined by the Office of Graduate Education and Life. The number of Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers allocated to each School in the College of Creative Arts will be determined by the Dean based on the School’s percentage of the College’s total graduate enrollment during the previous academic year.
Schools in the College should manage the allocation of their Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers in such a way that all waivers are used to promote and achieve the School and College’s strategic goals and initiatives. Schools that regularly do not use all of their allocated Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers may, in subsequent years, receive a reduction in their allocation of available hours. In any given semester, any Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers hours allocated but not awarded by a School will be reallocated by the Dean to the other Schools within the College. The Office of the Dean of the College of Creative Arts will not retain any Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers for allocation.
Renewal
The renewal of any Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers must be based on a satisfactory written, annual evaluation by the unit in respect to the recipient’s progress toward the completion of the degree. Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers are awarded in one semester increments only, and the renewal award of Meritorious Graduate Tuition Waivers cannot be guaranteed beyond the dates stated in the initial letter of award.
Fees
The graduate assistant is responsible for full payment of all fees and College tuition
as listed in the tuition and fee schedule published for each academic year. College
tuition is not the same as any University Graduate Tuition covered by Meritorious
Graduate Tuition Waivers.