A graduate assistant is a position who serves in a support role (assistantship) at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education

Graduate school

A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

. The individual typically assists professors or with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants, coaches with an athletic team, or university department such as housing, academic advising or works in another entry-level capacity. Rather than receive hourly wages, GAs are typically remunerated in the form of a stipend

Stipend

A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...

 that offsets some or all of their tuition

Tuition

Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...

. Assistantships provide much needed experience and a specific area of competency, aiding the graduate

Graduation

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...

in his or her search for a career in the future. Graduate assistants are sometimes called Graduate teaching assistants or TA's. Not all Graduate assistants teach or assist in research.