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Teaching Assistantships

Each year the Department of Foreign Languages has approximately eight assistantships available for qualified individuals to tutor, assist in and teach introductory language courses at USM (in French or Spanish) or to teach FL 401 World Languages and Cross-cultural Training. Teaching assistants receive a monthly stipend, health insurance, and a 12-month full tuition waiver to pursue work on their degrees. Teaching assistants are also eligible for possible summer appointments which pay an additional amount. Teaching assistants in Spanish and French must be admitted to the Department's Master of Arts in Teaching Languages (MATL) degree program. Within the MATL, students concentrate on one of three possible emphasis areas: French, Spanish or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). An assistantship in French or Spanish to teach courses at USM generally requires that the TA complete 18 hours of graduate credit in the target language. Assistantships can be awarded in French and Spanish for a two year period if applicants work on a dual emphasis in the MATL.

Graduate students who qualify for work study may be able to combine work study monies and graduate assistantship monies for a teaching assistantship, assisting professors with courses or doing office work. Please inform the department if you are eligible for work study:
Student on-campus employment: Employment
Financial Aid Information: Financial Aid

Admission to the University of Southern Mississippi requires the submission of an application and appropriate transcripts, scores for the GRE as well as IELTS or TOEFL scores, if the applicant is an international student and a nonnative speaker of English. Because of the time needed between applying for these tests and receiving the scores, individuals interested in the MATL, and particularly in an assistantship, should initiate the process as soon as possible. Application materials are due December 1, May 1, and August 1.

A separate letter of interest in an assistantship addressed to the Department Chair in addition to a resumé is required for consideration for a teaching assistantship. Assistantships cannot be awarded until an individual is fully admitted to the university. The granting of an assistantship is based on the merits of the student’s application materials, qualifications, and departmental need. The department reserves the right not to award an assistantship.