Students indicate their interest in Graduate Assistantships as part of the process of applying for admission to Graduate Studies. By checking the appropriate field on their application, students ensure that their name and qualifications will be forwarded to the English Graduate Coordinator, who reviews candidates and contacts them for interviews.

In order to be eligible to apply for a Graduate Assistantship, students must hold a GPA of 3.0 or higher, must be fully accepted to the English graduate program (i.e., not accepted on a provisional basis), and may not be enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification program.

Graduate Assistantships are awarded to eligible students based on a variety of factors, including the student's undergraduate and/or graduate GPA, personal statement, writing sample, letters of recommendation, and work experience relevant to the specific GA position. Additional qualifications may be required, depending on the Graduate Assistantship; for example, in order to be hired as a tutor at the University Writing Center, students must take ENG 600: Tutoring Composition.

Depending on their interests and qualifications, GAs might work with individual faculty on research projects, assist with College Literature and the Poetry Center, tutor at the Writing Center, or teach via Writing Zones. (Graduate Assistantships at the Writing Center and Writing Zones are not awarded directly by the English Department and may require additional qualifications.)

The most common form of Graduate Assistantship is the "half-time" (i.e., six-credit) assistantship, which includes tuition remission for six credits per semester and a stipend of $1,250 per semester, in exchange for ten hours of work per week.

Half-time GAs work for ten hours per week. However, students may also combine two half-time assistantships, which include—in return for twenty hours of work per week—tuition compensation for up to twelve credits a semester and a stipend of $2,500 per semester.