Ball State has set up a good deal for itself with summer graduate assistantships.
I am a doctoral assistant in the English department, and I am paid $1300 for a summer session assistantship. This gives me valuable experience as a research assistant and provides a service to Ball State: I help a professor with his book that will eventually bring scholarly notoriety to the university. I am happy to engage in such work.
What is very disappointing is the tuition bill I just received (although, ironically, the word "tuition" does not appear anywhere on the bill). My bill reads:
General Fees -- Summer 672.00
Grad Credit Fee -- Summer 24.00
University Technology Fee -- 42.00
Grad Asst. Fee Remission --116.00
Total Amount Due -- 622.00-รก
The bill is due in full on June 12. However, assistantship checks are not issued until June 30. The minimum consequence of not rendering payment in full by June 12 is a $50 late fee.
Of the five other doctoral assistants I have polled, only one can make such a payment on time; all others have to wait until they are paid on June 30. Thus, Ball State is guaranteed to reap many late fees with this payment/bill structure.
The bill is confusing as well. Doctoral assistants are to have their tuition remunerated: Their tuition is to be paid by the college as part of the honor and award of being an assistant.
However, by cleverly not calling any charges tuition, but referring to all of them as fees, the university circumvents the clarity of the bill. Thus, including the late charge, over half of my stipend goes to my bill.
This does not seem like much of an award.
As with many graduate students, I have a mortgage, child care, automobile, and many other bills to pay. This will be exceedingly difficult when so much of my income will go toward paying my tuition bill.
I am glad to be on assistantship and to be able to continue my education, but I think the summer assistantship/tuition arrangement is misrepresented and tuition and fees are inadequately remitted.
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