Doctoral Tuition Remission
UTEP provides tuition remission to qualifying doctoral students to help offset the cost of attending school, thereby supporting students in achieving their academic and professional goals in a timely and affordable manner.
The Graduate School works with academic programs to identify eligible students and applies the tuition payment to their accounts each semester of eligibility. Students do not apply for tuition remission.
Eligibility Requirements
Student must meet the following requirements:
- Be enrolled full-time in a research doctoral program (PhD or EdD) – Nine (9) semester credit hours of course work that count towards your degree or three (3) semester credit hours of doctoral dissertation (after successfully advancing to doctoral candidacy). To receive Tuition Remission, the student must be enrolled in the required credit hours by May 31st for fall semester, and by November 30th for spring semester.
- Be appointed as a doctoral student employee 20 hours/week for the entire Fall or Spring semester (there is no tuition remission in the summer). Student employee titles that qualify for tuition remission are: Doctoral Assistant (DA), Doctoral Teaching Assistant (TA), Doctoral Research Associate (RA), or Doctoral Assistant Instructor (AI).
- Be in good academic standing in the doctoral program as demonstrated by the following:
- Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and
- Satisfactory progress towards degree completion as outlined in the student’s Individualized Development Plan (IDP), which must be updated and submitted annually.
The Graduate School requires the student and the hiring department to observe the following:
- The hiring department must submit the student’s appointment before Census Day. Students appointed after Census Day cannot receive tuition remission from the Graduate School.
- Students must be appointed for the entire semester (Fall: Sep 1 – Jan 15; Spring: Jan 16 – May 31).
- The hiring department must adhere to the student employment requirements and time limits, and request exceptions prior to an appointment where applicable. For details, review the Student Employment Guidelines webpage by UTEP’s Office of Human Resources.
Funding structure
Tuition remission offered by the Graduate School is designed to help students move efficiently through their program to graduation.
Funding for students who enter a doctoral program with no existing graduate credit will cover:
- Up to 9 semester credit hours each fall and spring semesters during their first three years of doctoral study.
- 3 semester credit hours each fall and spring semesters during their fourth year of doctoral study.
Students in their fifth year can also receive tuition remission for 3 semester credit hours each fall and spring semesters, depending on progress towards degree and availability of funds.
Funding for students who enter a doctoral program with existing graduate credit will be reduced commensurate with the amount of credit earned and applicability to doctoral degree.
The Graduate School does not provide tuition remission for students who begin in Spring semester. Students who begin in Spring will begin receiving tuition remission from the Graduate School in the Fall. Students who begin in spring may receive tuition remission from grants, their department, or their college.
For institutional tuition rates, visit the Student Business Services webpage.
