This page has been updated with information for the 2009-10 academic year.

Dear New Colleagues,
Welcome to Emory!

Whether you are coming here to study neuroscience or sociology, comparative literature or epidemiology, the next few years will be filled with hard work, intellectual growth, and personal transformation.  We are proud that you chose Emory as the place to join a community of engaged scholars.  We are dedicated to extending the reach of scholarship, creative expression, and scientific discovery.

Just as we know that we will make a difference in your life, we hope you will make a difference in ours, that your energy and dedication will challenge us to deepen our knowledge and to move in new and unanticipated directions.  And we hope that together, we will carry forward Emory’s tradition of bold thinking to address the most pressing problems of our time.

Your first days on campus will be filled with new and unfamiliar things as you get to know your professors, your fellow students, the campus and the city.  Many of you will be invited to program orientation sessions, and I encourage you to attend.  These sessions are essential for grounding yourself in academic life at Emory.

Please also plan on attending the August 26 Graduate School new student orientation and welcome picnic.  It is an occasion to meet the Graduate School staff, to receive important information about many aspects of graduate student life, and to meet students from other programs across campus.

This page contains helpful and important information, and there is more on our website and Emory's website.  If you need assistance as you settle into life at Emory and the Atlanta area, please contact the Graduate School.  We are happy to help in whatever way we can to make your transition easy. 

The Graduate School staff and I look forward to meeting you and we wish you much success at Emory.

Lisa A. Tedesco, PhD
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs – Graduate Studies
Dean, Graduate School

Graduate School Orientation

New students are required to attend the Graduate School orientation. Orientation will be held on Wednesday, August 26, on the third floor of Cox Hall, from 12:00-2:30 pm. Lunch will be served, and there will be presentations by the Graduate School dean and other university offices and organizations.  Graduate School staff will provide information on registration for the fall semester.

Graduate School Welcome Picnic

The Graduate School welcome picnic will be held on Wednesday, August 26, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, on the quad behind the Administration Building.  All new and continuing graduate students, faculty, and staff are welcome.  The picnic is a great opportunity for you to begin building relationships with other graduate students and with faculty and staff with whom you will work during your graduate studies at Emory.

Student Support Services

For information about various offices across campus that provide student support services, such as counseling and health services, information technology, parking, transportation, and many others, please see our Student Support Services page.

Tuition and Fees

In mid-July you will receive an electronic bill from Emory’s Financial Services officeThe statement will show charges for fall semester tuition and fees. If you have been awarded a Graduate School scholarship, your statement should indicate a credit of $17,240, leaving a balance due of $288.*     

Charges
Tuition	$16,400
Activity fee	$86
Athletic fee	$102
Computing fee	$50
Mental Health fee	$50
Enrollment fee	$840
Total	$17,528
Credit
	($17,240)*
Balance due from student	$288

*Diversity and Woodruff scholarships cover fees, for a total credit of $17,528.

There is more information on our tuition and fees page.

Health Insurance

By July 1, you should log onto OPUS and either enroll in the University Health Services Aetna/Chickering plan or waive out of the plan by demonstrating comparable coverage.  If you enroll in the plan or if you do not take action before July 1, your student account will be charged the fall installment of the premium (annual premium is $2,158; half charged fall semester, half charged spring semester).  The electronic statement you receive in July will include a charge for health insurance ($1,079).  If your Graduate School award includes a health insurance subsidy, your statement should indicate a credit in the amount of the subsidy ($810 for most students, leaving a balance of $269 for health insurance; GDBBS and business PhD students receive 100% subsidies).  There more information on our health insurance page.

Stipends

If you have been awarded a stipend, your letter of admission indicated the amount and the term of your stipend.  Stipends are paid monthly on the last business day of the month; the first payment will be September 30, 2009.

Students in the following programs receive nine monthly payments, September – May:  Art History, Behavioral Science and Health Education, Comparative Literature, Economics, Educational Studies, English, Epidemiology, French, Health Services Research and Health Policy, History, ILA, Jewish Studies, Mathematics & Computer Science, Music, Nursing, Philosophy, Political Science, Graduate Division of Religion, Sociology, Spanish, and Women’s Studies.

Students in the following programs receive twelve monthly payments, September – August:  Anthropology, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Biostatistics, Business, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology.

Recipients of special Graduate School fellowships (Arts and Sciences, Diversity, and Woodruff) receive 12 monthly payments, September – August, regardless of the programs they are in.

Hiring Paperwork.

The staff in your program will “hire” you.  You will need to complete state and federal tax forms, an I-9 Eligibility to Work Form and a direct deposit authorization form. Forms will be available in your program, but you may review the forms in advance.  Forms can be found in the sidebar at right.

The IRS website is an essential first stop for all students with questions about taxes. IRS Publication 520, which deals with scholarships and fellowships, will be of special interest to graduate students.

Non-resident Aliens

International students must meet with Mary Chenault, the university’s non-resident alien tax advisor, before completing paperwork and being hired into the Emory system.  Contact Ms. Chenault at mchenau@emory.edu as soon as you arrive at Emory.

Electronic Pay Advice

Each month, a few days before funds are deposited into your bank account, the payroll department will notify you by email that payment has been processed.  The email will state: “Your Pay Advice is now ready for online review at the following website: http://leo.cc.emory.edu/.”  Please note: the funds are not deposited on the day you receive the pay advice; they are deposited on the last working day of the month.

Graduate School Emergency Loans

The Graduate School administers an emergency loan fund to help students meet unexpected financial needs.  Emergency loans are interest-free when repaid within four months of issue.  New students may apply for emergency loans when they have completed registration.  There is more information on our emergency loan page.

Federal and Private Loans

Information about student loans is available through Emory’s Office of Financial Aid.

English as a Second Language

All new graduate students enrolled in a degree program in the Graduate School, for whom English is not their native language, must participate in an Emory-specific English Language Assessment before they register and enroll.  There is more information in the document to the right, and on our ESL page.

Questions about Funding?

Check first on our website and with your program office.  If neither can answer your questions, contact Theresa C. Kenney (404-727-6032; tcoxken@emory.edu) or Charmaine Brown (404-727-6795; cmbrow6@emory.edu) in the Graduate School. GDBBS students, please contact Margie Varnado (404-727-2803; margie.varnado@emory.edu).