Graduate enrollment at the University of South Florida has been slipping, and a lot of people on campus say the culprit is not a mystery. Graduate assistants who teach classes and run labs say their nine month stipends simply do not keep pace with Tampa’s rising housing costs, and some newly admitted students are walking away from USF for programs that offer stronger financial support.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, students including Isa Stahrfisher and Olivia Lavin told reporters that low graduate assistant pay, paired with Tampa’s cost of living, is pushing some to withdraw after enrolling or decline offers altogether. The Times reports that USF’s graduate headcount has been trending downward, a shift students and advocates connect to stagnant stipends and rising fees.
Stipends And Recent Policy Changes
USF’s Graduate Assistant Handbook spells out the minimum nine month stipends. For Fall 2024, it lists $15,304 for master’s assistants and $21,624 for doctoral assistants. The same handbook shows updated minimums that took effect April 10, 2026, at $15,650 and $22,056 respectively, according to USF’s Office of Graduate Studies.
Spread over the academic year, those minimums work out to roughly $1,700 a month for a master’s assistant and about $2,400 a month for a doctoral assistant before taxes and fees. Once rent, utilities and university charges come out, students say there is not much left to cover basics.
Students And Union Pressure For Raises
Graduate Assistants United has been pressing for a significantly bigger bump. The union is seeking roughly a 50 percent increase in the minimum pay, which USF’s student paper described as about $21,667 for master’s assistants and $30,615 for doctoral assistants. Union leaders and graduate students told The Oracle they are struggling to “make ends meet” and have criticized the administration’s 2 percent proposal as far too small to matter in day to day life.
Why Tampa Matters
The local backdrop is not helping. Analysis from USF’s Muma College of Business shows the Tampa Bay metro’s cost of living index rising above national levels, and rental listings put typical one bedroom apartments in the roughly $1,600 plus range as of April 2026. When a typical apartment can swallow most of a master’s stipend and a large chunk of a doctoral stipend, even a few hundred dollars more a year can feel like standing still once rent and fees move up too. That arithmetic leaves little room for groceries, insurance or tuition related charges withheld from paychecks.
University Response And What’s Next
The Graduate Assistant Handbook notes that stipend minimums are set through collective bargaining with Graduate Assistants United, and administrators have been at the table with union representatives. University negotiators recently put a 2 percent raise on the board, according to The Oracle. GAU leaders say talks will continue and argue that deeper increases are critical if USF wants to recruit and keep the graduate students who staff classes and power research…