CS Graduate Student Jobs

This FAQ gives a brief overview of the differences between various jobs offered by the department. It is intended to help students choose between available job options. If you have other questions about jobs, come ask us on Slack. We’ll also update this FAQ periodically.

Job Comparison

Title	Pay (2018-2019)	Hours (hr/wk)	Tuition Waiver	Health Insurance	Example Duties	Courses Taught
Research Assistant (RA) at 50% appointment	$12,324 / semester*	20	X	X	Do research
Teaching Assistant (TA) at 50% appointment	$12,324 / semester*	20	X	X	Teach recitation Hold office hours Grade	Undergraduate Only
Graduate Course Assistant (GCA)	$20 / hr	<= 20**			Same as TA except will not teach recitation	Graduate Only
Grader	$15 / hr	<= 20**			Grading only	Both undergraduate and graduate

‘*’ This amount is distributed monthly. The fall semester has 4 months, and the spring semester has 5. So the monthly earnings are $3081 and $2465 respectively. Also, post proposal PhD students in the CS department get a raise to $13,053 / semester.

‘**’ GCA and Grader hours depend on course enrollment.

There are a few other rarer jobs, such as lead TA and graduate part time instructor (GPTI), but the above are the most common.

How to get one of these jobs

Rajshree sends out a survey about three months before each semester to look for TAs, GCAs, and graders for courses. She then works with the curriculum/TA sub-committee to try and match the respondents with available courses. You can also find out about courses that need TAs, GCAs and graders from Rajshree. For PhD students, your research advisor might occasionally ask you to TA their course.

For upper-level courses, you need to have taken the course before or have relevant experience in order to qualify to be a TA or GCA.  

Typically, TAs are assigned with the following priorities

1. PhD students with funding commitment
2. PhD students without funding commitment and MS students who have previously held TAs
3. Outstanding GCAs and graders are also at times considered for TA positions, if needed.

At all priority levels, you must perform your TA duties well. Students who have previously held TA positions and underperformed do not get picked up again.

GCAs and grader positions mostly go to Masters students.

If you want an RA, you need to speak to a professor with research funding and convince them to hire you. For PhD students, the professor who funds your RA is typically your research advisor.

How many hours will I get?

Hours for GCAs and Graders vary based on the enrollment in the courses, and are usually determined just before the start of the semester. In general, more students mean more available hours. For GCA’s, the course instructor receives 20 hrs of GCA help per 60 enrolled students.

I went through the historical FCQs of courses being offered Fall 2018 to get an idea of past enrollment. Larger course size means more hours will be available. The department has been growing steadily for the past few years and interest in topics can vary, but the historical numbers can give you a rough idea of how many hours you might get.

Course	Number	Last Offered	Enrollment
Linear Algebra	CSCI 2820	SS 2017	84
Discrete Structures	CSCI 2824	SS 2017	206
Intro to Data Science Algorithms	CSCI 3022	FS 2016	88
Intro to Artificial Intelligence	CSCI 3202	SS 2016	95
Design & Analysis of Data Systems	CSCI 3287	SS 2017	137
Numerical Computation	CSCI 3656	SS 2017	48
HCC Professional Development	CSCI 3112	SS 2009	21
Intro to Robotics	CSCI 3302	FS 2016	48
Theory of Computation	CSCI 3434	FS 2016	33
Cognitive Science	CSCI 3702	FS 2016	66
Data Mining	CSCI 4502	SS 2017	56
Computer Graphics	CSCI 5229/4229	FS 2016	86
Network Systems	CSCI 5273/4273	FS 2016	114
Entrepreneurial Projects	CSCI 4830/5340	-	-
Object Oriented Analysis and Design	CSCI 4448/5448	SS 2017	107
Machine Learning	CSCI 5622	SS 2017	20
Data Mining	CSCI 5502/4502	SS 2016	127
High Performance Computing	CSCI 4576/5576	FS 2016	12
Undergraduate Machine Learning	CSCI 4622	-	-
Computer Animation	CSCI 4809/5809	FS 2015	35
Intro to Virtual Reality	CSCI 7000/4830	SS 2017	45
Computer Vision	CSCI 5722/4831	SS 2015	21
Network Analysis and Modeling	CSCI 5352	FS 2016	33
Design and Analysis of Algorithms	CSCI 5454	FS 2016	33
Datacenter Scale Computing	CSCI 5253	-	-
Ethical Hacking	CSCI 5413	-	-
Advanced OS	CSCI 5573	SS 2016	16
Principles of Numerical Computation	CSCI 5606	FS 2016	10
Natural Language Processing	CSCI 5832	SS 2017	32
User Centered Design	CSCI 5839	FS 2016	34

Maximum Hours

The university limits how many hours you can work in university positions:

The campus policy limits hourly student employees in all University of Colorado positions combined to a maximum of 25 hours per week or 50 hours per bi-weekly pay period during the academic year including exam weeks, spring break, and winter break; and to 40 hours per week or 80 hours per bi-weekly pay period in the summer.

In addition, if you are an international student, your visa may place limits on how much you can work:

In general, F1 and J1 international students maintaining status at CU-Boulder can work on campus a maximum of 20 hours a week during school. Refer to International Student and Scholar Services for additional information.

From Student Employment FAQs

Other On-Campus Jobs

Other on-campus jobs are listed at the Student Employment Office website. These may be especially interesting to you if you are on a F1 or J1 visa, as you can only work on campus.