Stipend & Salary

 

Funding Levels

The standard funding levels guaranteed for PhD students at SIO are:

7/1/24 - 9/30/24:

  • 2023 incoming students: $37,727/year; Equivalent to a 50% GSR, Step 3
  • All other PhD students:  $47,196/year; Equivalent to a 50% GSR, Step 6

10/1/24 - 9/30/25 (first paycheck on 11/1/24):

  • 2024 incoming students: $40,130/year; Equivalent to a 50% GSR, Step 3
  • 2023 incoming students: $43,240/year; Equivalent to a 50% GSR, Step 4
  • All other PhD students: $50,203/year; Equivalent to a 50% GSR, Step 6

During the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters, students must be registered in a minimum of 12 units to receive funding.


Don't forget to do so by the deadline!

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Pay Dates

Stipend and salary payments are issued on a monthly basis on the 1st of the month following the pay period. For example, September stipends are issued on October 1st.

There are two exceptions to this rule:

  • When the 1st falls on a weekend or a holiday, employees are paid on the Friday before the 1st.
  • Salary payments for December earnings are not issued until January which is the beginning of a new tax year, even if the 1st falls on a weekend. The monthly pay dates can be found at the bottom of the payroll calendars.

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Direct Deposit

In order to receive payments and reimbursement promptly, you should sign up for direct deposit. Three different offices handle direct deposit.

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Taxes

All stipend payments (fellowship, traineeship, scholarship) are considered taxable income except any amount used on course related expenses. However, income tax is not withheld from these payments. Although you will not receive a W-2 or 1099 Form for your stipend payments, you must report this income on your tax return.

The entire amount of your salary is considered taxable if you are a graduate student on an academic title such as a Teaching Assistant, Graduate Student Researcher, Reader, Tutor, Associate or on a student-staff title. By January 31st, you should receive a UCSD W-2 Wage and Tax Statement that reflects your total taxable salary income received from the previous tax year and the the total amount of federal and state taxes withheld from your paychecks.

Tuition/Fee payments made on your behalf are not taxable for qualified expenses and not reported by UCSD as income on W-2 Form or 1099 Form.

Below are several resources to which you may refer regarding tax questions:

  • Questions re. W-2
  • Questions re. 1099
  • Questions re. 1098-T: 1-877-467-3821  Students may access their 1098-T here.
  • Questions re. 1042-S (International students only)
  • International Center - Tax Resources for International students

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Instructional Assistant (IA)

Graduate students may be appointed up to 50% time (20 hours/week) as Instructional Assistants (TAs, Associate-Ins, Readers, or Tutors) during the academic year. For academic year employment at 25-50% time, a student must be registered full-time (12 units or more) and must be in good academic standing. IAs appointed at 25% or more for the entire quarter are eligible for payment of health insurance and partial tuition remission. Student Academic Title Rates provides salary information for these positions.

There are approximately 100 SIO IA positions that need to be filled every year. Students can apply for IA positions online before the deadline in July. IAs are selected from the applicant pool based on instructor requests, graduate student preferences, and financial support circumstances. IAs are expected to be present and available for the entire quarter. Here is the list of SIO courses and ESYS courses.

For more information, please visit this Teaching Assistants page.

Contact information:

IA application, eligibility, assignments, evaluations and training: Contact Shelley Weisel

Other UCSD IA Opportunities:

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