Funding for Onsite Graduate Students Department of English

The English Department offers assistantships for onsite graduate students, who serve as teaching assistants or graduate part-time instructors (GPTI, or instructors of record) for undergraduate courses in the department. These assistantships cover most of tuition and fees. Students and potential students should consult the TTU tuition calculator to estimate the remaining cost of tuition and fees after the assistantship waivers. We are not able to provide assistantships for online students.

Funding for MA Students in English or in Technical Communication

The English Department offers a two-year package for MA students in our programs. This position provides a 9-month salary of $15,500. MA students teach in our innovative First-Year Writing program. In your first year, you will serve as a classroom instructor (TA) for two sections per semester under the supervision of a faculty instructor-of-record. If successful, you will become a graduate part-time instructor (GPTI) in your second year and serve as an instructor-of-record for two sections per semester your second year. You will also have the option of summer teaching (pending availability) for an additional summer salary.

Funding for MFA Students in Creative Writing

The English Department offers a three-year package for MFA students. This position provides a 9-month salary of $15,500. MFA students teach in our innovative First-Year Writing program for two years and then have the opportunity to teach sophomore-level creative writing courses in their third year. In your first year, you will serve as a classroom instructor (TA) for two sections per semester under the supervision of a faculty instructor-of-record. If successful, you will become a graduate part-time instructor (GPTI) in your second year and serve as an instructor of record for two sections per semester your second year. After your second year in the program, there will be teaching opportunities beyond FYW, usually sophomore-level introduction to creative writing courses. You will also have the option of summer teaching (pending availability) for an additional summer salary.

Funding for PhD Students in English or Technical Communication and Rhetoric

The English Department offers a five-year package for PhD students. This position provides a 9-month salary of $20,000. As a GPTI, you will have a unique opportunity to be a student and teacher of English. During your first two years, you will teach in our innovative, nationally recognized First-Year Writing program, serving as a classroom instructor of two sections per semester. After your second year in the program, there will be teaching opportunities beyond FYW. You will also have the option of summer teaching (pending availability) for an additional summer salary.

PhD students in the Technical Communication and Rhetoric often teach introduction to technical writing starting their third year, and many go on to teach 3000-level courses. PhD students in English often teach a 2000-level introduction to creative writing, film, fiction, nonfiction, or poetry class in their third year. Many PhD students go on to teach 3000-level creative writing or literature courses in their fourth or fifth year.

Advanced PhD students in the department have many opportunities for replacing teaching with other opportunities. Students interested in the teaching and administration of writing programs can serve as Assistant Directors in the First-Year Writing Program. Some students serve as Assistant or Associate Editors for journals housed in the department, including Iron Horse Literary Review and Computers and Composition. The department also has a few limited research assistant positions in which students work closely with an individual faculty member on research projects. Many students in our department are nominated for and awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship, which provides the same salary and exemption from teaching for the student’s final year in the program so they can focus on completing their dissertation.