Graduate Assistants and Associates are demanding higher pay at UT Knoxville!

UTK’s own Center for Global Engagement estimates Knoxville’s current minimum cost of attendance for international students as $21,458/year - far higher than the $14,400/year base stipend for graduate teaching and research assistants.

Average apartment rents in Knoxville are rising faster than anywhere else in the country, and have increased nearly 50% since 2020. The average rent is currently estimated at $1,355/month—more than many graduate workers’ entire stipends.

Without the essential research, teaching, grading, and support that graduate workers perform, the University of Tennessee could not survive. For the good of this University, it's time to pay graduate workers enough for us to live.

We call on Chancellor Donde Plowman to:

1. Raise all graduate assistantship base stipends to a minimum of $24,000/year.

2. Implement annual cost of living adjustments for graduate student stipends.