The Out-of-State Waiver (OOSW) has historically been referred to as a "Non-Resident Tuition Waiver" or an "NRTW" and are extended only under special circumstances. OOSWs are for graduate students on certain types of fellowships and for special cases such as recruitment purposes. 

The OOSW brings the student’s tuition rate down to in-state levels. Therefore, if a student is already a resident of the state of Georgia, the student does not require an OOSW. Please note that the OOSW only waives the out-of-state portion of tuition at the standard graduate rate only. Students enrolled in programs that charge a differential tuition rate will still be responsible for this differential tuition rate. Please refer to the Office of the Bursar's webpage to View Tuition Costs by Semester for specific tuition rates. 

Further, the OOSW only applies to students who are enrolled on the Atlanta Campus and is not applicable to distance learning, online, or non-Atlanta campus students. 

All discretion regarding the approval of OOSW requests rests with the vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral education. The graduate fellowships manager in the Office of Graduate Education will coordinate all approvals and will communicate with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to facilitate the administrative processes, including the requests, approval, entry, and documentation of approvals.

OOSW for Fellowship Purposes

Some Out-of-State Waivers have historically been granted for certain fellowships. To review the list of pre-approved fellowships, please see question number six in the drop-down list in the OOSW Request Form.

OOSW for Recruitment Purposes

Sometimes, OOSWs may be approved to assist in recruitment. These are cases whereby the vice provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education either approves individual students or extends an allocation of OOSWs to the college or academic unit for recruitment purposes. Previous approval of an OOSW is not a guarantee on future offers. Whether or not the program is in an active growth mode, such as being new or aggressively recruiting to increase enrollments, is considered and meant as a short-term boost. 

OOSW Deadlines

The OOSW must be requested preceding the applicable term.

Semester Deadline
Fall Semester Aug. 1
Spring Semester Dec. 1
Summer Semester April 1

An OOSW Recipient Must:

  • Be in good academic standing
  • Be enrolled full-time in the term the waiver is given
    • Full-time enrollment for graduate students is 12 hours, nine of which must be taken for letter grade or for pass/fail credit during fall and spring semesters, or six of which must be taken for letter grade or for pass/fail credit during summer semesters.
    • If your student(s) are not required to be full-time, please identify the minimum number of pass/fail or class credit hours. You may be asked to provide written support or documentation in support of the request.
    • The full-time enrollment requirement for OOSWs still applies to students who are in their graduating semester. An OOSW will not be granted to students who have received an enrollment waiver. 
    • Thesis students preparing for their graduating semester may be eligible for either reduced enrollment or for an enrollment waiver in their final term. Please see chapter two of the Thesis Manual (PDF).

In most cases, academic units requesting OOSWs should also submit a Fellowship Payment Request to the appropriate contacts in the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid and the Office of the Bursar. More information can be found on the Fellowship Payment Requests page.

Please Do Not Request OOSWs for the Following Groups:

  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) fellows
    • GRFP fellows automatically receive OOSWs for each semester in which they are funded on tenure.
  • Students who will be awarded GRAs or GTAs
    • These students will receive the GRA/GTA waiver. OOSWs are not to be requested in the same term a student receives a GRA/GTA waiver. If a change of waiver type is needed, the academic department must delete the GRA/GTA waiver so that the OOSW can take precedence. Vice versa, an OOSW must be deleted to allow for a GRA/GTA waiver to remain.
  • Military or students who are on a foreign exchange program
  • Students receiving fellowships for which the sponsoring agency/entity commits to and is invoiced by Georgia Tech for full tuition and fees
    • For example, certain U.S. Department of Energy awards or fellowships awarded by major corporations fall into this category. 

How to Submit a Request

Requests for OOSWs must be submitted in advance of each term.

Requesting a new OOSW for Recruitment Purposes

  • If your academic unit wishes to request new consideration of an individual or a group of OOSWs for recruitment purposes, please email the graduate fellowships manager (fellowships@grad.gatech.edu) directly to coordinate a review by the vice provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. 
  • If your request is for specific individual(s), please include information on financial support, the number of terms requested and any details supporting your request to use an OOSW for recruitment purposes. 
  • If your request is for an unnamed group of students, please include any parameters pertaining to academic excellence that might dictate your offering of an OOSW (e.g., you plan to offer the waivers to students with X academic credentials, GPA, background, aptitude, etc.)

Once approved, the academic unit will move forward and utilize the OOSW Request Form with the "Previously approved: Recruitment Purposes" selection from the drop-down list in question number six. 

Requesting an OOSW for Fellowship Purposes

Graduate coordinators/directors should utilize the OOSW Request Form to request an OOSW if your student either:

  • holds a fellowship that has already been pre-approved, 
  • needs approval from the vice provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education for a newly considered fellowship

Requesting an OOSW

If you have less than five OOSW requests, please utilize the OOSW Request Form. 

If you have 5 or more OOSW requests to submit and wish to not utilize the form, you may request them in bulk by emailing the graduate fellowships manager at fellowships@grad.gatech.edu. Please specify the term (e.g., Fall 2023 or Spring 2024), ensure that they are out-of-state students, will not have a tuition waiver in Banner and send the information as follows: student(s) name, GTID, students department, fellowship name. 

Example Email Format: 

  • Term = Spring 2024
  • I confirm that the following students are Out-of-State Residents in Banner. 
  • I confirm that the following students have not, and will not, have a GRA Tuition Exemption added in Banner.
Student's First Name Last Name GTID Department Fellowship Name
Georgia Smith XX3456789 Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Extraordinaire Fellowship
Sophie Tech XX4567891 Public Policy Donor Gave Lots of Money for Fellowship

 

 

 

 

If you have questions, you may email the graduate fellowships manager at fellowships@grad.gatech.edu.