Graduate Assistantships:Frugal Ideal?
Mike
want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
students incur.
He is thinking of trying to apply for what is called a graduate
assistantship. In this set-up, the college would waive his tuition
charges, and he would also have a job at the college that would pay
him a little over six thousand dollars a year.
One thing I've noticed, is that my friend seems to think that these
assistanships are easy to get.
Is that the case? I can imagine that a lot of people would apply for
these, since you'd get to attend graduate school for free and would
also have a paying job at the college.
Are there any catches or downsides that my friend should be aware of?
This arrangement sounds like a sweet deal, but with most
sweet-sounding deals, there is almost always a catch.
Jess Askin
"Mike" <MrStr...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7cfd37d2.04082...@posting.google.com...
Isn't this the standard arrangement (assuming that "graduate assistantship"
means "teaching assistantship")? Universities recognize that very few grad
students have the ability to pay their tuition without assistance from the
university. Graduate programs are usually structured so that almost all
students who are admitted get an assistantship.
It should be a no-lose situation -- the universities get cheap teachers and
the students get teaching experience. The catch, if there is one, is that
students sometimes feel they are over-exploited by being required to teach
more hours than they're really supposed to. In some universities grad
students have formed unions, etc. Your friend should try to talk to a
current or former student.
mj
Mike wrote:
>A friend of mine is thinking of going to graduate school, but does not
>want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
>students incur.
>
>He is thinking of trying to apply for what is called a graduate
>assistantship. In this set-up, the college would waive his tuition
>charges, and he would also have a job at the college that would pay
>him a little over six thousand dollars a year.
>
>One thing I've noticed, is that my friend seems to think that these
>assistanships are easy to get.
>
>Is that the case? I can imagine that a lot of people would apply for
>these, since you'd get to attend graduate school for free and would
>also have a paying job at the college.
>
>Are there any catches or downsides that my friend should be aware of?
>
They are excellent ways to pay for schooling. Catches include
relatively low pay (great for the school) & often times they are only
applicable with majors lacking students (often times a sign of a poor
job outlook). On the positive side, they do provide excellent
experience dealing with students (leading lab courses, correcting
papers, etc).
Marc VanHeyningen
>A friend of mine is thinking of going to graduate school, but does not
>want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
>students incur.
>
>He is thinking of trying to apply for what is called a graduate
>assistantship. In this set-up, the college would waive his tuition
>charges, and he would also have a job at the college that would pay
>him a little over six thousand dollars a year.
>
>One thing I've noticed, is that my friend seems to think that these
>assistanships are easy to get.
What is he going to graduate school to study, and for what degree?
Some fields have lots of them easily available, others have few and
the process of getting one is inevitably political. Those fields that
do have them generally reserve them for people seeking their most
advanced degrees (Ph.D. or whatever.)
There can be catches, such as the fact that some universities still have
"unremittable fees" that aren't covered by the tuition waiver. Such
jobs usually offer poor (or no) health insurance, and they generally pay
enough to survive but not enough to live. Grad students can't afford
luxuries like haircuts, which is why you see so many of them looking
like leftover hippies. But it's a heck of a lot better deal than any
other likely offer, unless your friend already has a well-paying job.
Larisa
The catch is that you have to be a teaching assistant for classes,
work a lot in the lab as a graduate assistant, and survive on way less
than minimum wage. I did something like that in graduate school, and
it's a reasonably sweet deal - but one does end up poor and
overworked.
LM
Brian Seeger
>Are there any catches or downsides that my friend should be aware of?
WHY isn't HE asking these questions? Hearsay is so unreliable.
timeOday
> "Mike" <MrStr...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:7cfd37d2.04082...@posting.google.com...
>
>>A friend of mine is thinking of going to graduate school, but does not
>>want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
>>students incur.
>>
>>He is thinking of trying to apply for what is called a graduate
>>assistantship. In this set-up, the college would waive his tuition
>>charges, and he would also have a job at the college that would pay
>>him a little over six thousand dollars a year.
>>
>>One thing I've noticed, is that my friend seems to think that these
>>assistanships are easy to get.
>>
>>Is that the case? I can imagine that a lot of people would apply for
>>these, since you'd get to attend graduate school for free and would
>>also have a paying job at the college.
>>
>>Are there any catches or downsides that my friend should be aware of?
>>This arrangement sounds like a sweet deal, but with most
>>sweet-sounding deals, there is almost always a catch.
>
>
> Isn't this the standard arrangement (assuming that "graduate assistantship"
> means "teaching assistantship")?
Well, there are two types - TA = teaching assistant and RA = research
assistant. TA means grading papers and teaching intro level courses to
undergrads. RA means conducting experiments and writing drafts of
academic papers. Often people will start as a TA and "move up" to RA at
some point as they become more advanced in their field.
TA and RA are the most usual way to work one's way through graduate
school. Some schools' (and departments') stipends are bigger than others.
Lou
I don't know about graduate school, but for an undergraduate degree, tuition
is the least of it. Much of the cost of going to college is for other
stuff - food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear.
For instance, my alma mater is the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
For an undergraduate, tuition and fees currently run about $9K a (2
semester) year. Room and board (a dorm room and dining commons) is about
$6,200 - expect it to be more if you live off campus. Books and such vary
with the course of study, but the school estimates it averages around $500.
Personal transportation is estimated at $700-$1,400.
The "catch" is that your friend will be paid $3,000 a semester, and that's
probably not enough to live on while school is in session - it won't even
cover room and board in on-campus housing, assuming such is available.
Such a deal will help your friend meet the costs of getting a graduate
degree, but s/he will probably need additional money before that degree is
granted.
Lou
> want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
> students incur.
By far the "cheapest" way I know of to get an advanced degree is to get a
job. Your friend evidently has an undergraduate degree. Many jobs, even at
small companies, will pay (or reimburse) for courses taken towards an
advanced degree. Usually there's a limit as to how many courses they'll pay
for in a year, and you have to get some minimum grade before you'll get
reimbursed. It'll take longer than a couple of years at grad school, and
you certainly don't experience campus life, but you earn a full time decent
income while getting on with the rest of your life while working on your
degree.
Not all areas of study are adaptable to this approach, but if your friend is
specializing in an area that is, it's something to consider.
ccbailey
>
> Isn't this the standard arrangement (assuming that "graduate assistantship"
Umm, not at a lot of universities. There are a limited number of these
positions available, and getting them can be competitive.
Mike (Remove X's to reply)
assistanceships. If you don't have one, you've done something very, very
wrong. In fact, it is generally required, since they want you for cheap
labor. For a masters, it depends on the department. For example, almost
all English MA students will have a teaching assistanceship. The reason is
simple--you are expected to go into academia and need the experience. Also,
they get a cheap "professor" out of the deal that can do the dirty work of
teaching while the real profs can do research. Very few MBA students will
get an assitanceship, for they are expected to be working "real" jobs during
their studies and going to school part time. They are generally quite easy
to get. They are not like scholarships. Assistanceships are part of a
department's budget. They expect most full-time students to have them.
There is no catch, other than you'll be dirt poor. It is not a loan. It is
cheap labor for them. Of course, the scholarship portion is the big money
saver, but the living income is very meager. The only "catch" is that you
must enroll for a certain minimum amount of credit hours to be eligable.
Most people do this for grad school. It's really the only way to go unless
your employer pays for education.
Thanks,
Mike
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"Mike" <MrStr...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Chris Jung
"Mike (Remove X's to reply)" <aXeXn...@gwis.com> wrote in message
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My DH had TAs (Teaching Assistantships) and RAs (Research Assistantships)
for the entire time he was in grad school for his PhD in physics. I did a
one semester TA when I was in school for my MFA but went back to my
illustration job (I had a job as an entomological illustrator) to fund my
grad school education - it paid just about the same, was less of a hassle
and had nicely flexible hours. From what I've seen the pay rate and
competitiveness of TAs and RAs varies greatly depending on departments.
Everyone we knew in the hard sciences (physics, chemistry, material science)
had TAs & RAs. But in the fine arts/art history departments there were only
TAs, no RAs, and only the lucky few got them. IIRC Dave's stipend in the
late 80s was about 12K a year plus waived tuition. I don't recall the
numbers but my impression was that the fine arts/art history grad's stipends
were much more meager. One guy we knew, who was going for a Ph.D. in
philosophy, had the lowest TA stipend - IIRC 4K plus waived tuition. In the
physics department, getting a RA depended much on the major professor's
funding. Dave was the only grad student for his major professor (he was due
to retire soon) and was able to switch from a TA to a RA within a year or
two. With an RA, you are basically being paid to do your research and to
help run the professor's lab. We knew one guy who's professor didn't have
any funding and he had to be a TA and do his research around his teaching
schedule - a tough way to get a physics Ph.D. and it took him a couple of
extra years to complete it.
Chris
Joel M. Eichen
<aXeXn...@gwis.com> wrote:
>No one should pay for their PhD.
Almost none do pay ...
>Almost all PhD candidates have
>assistanceships.
Yeah, we had crappy teachers and you should have crappy teachers too!
> If you don't have one, you've done something very, very
>wrong. In fact, it is generally required, since they want you for cheap
>labor. For a masters, it depends on the department. For example, almost
>all English MA students will have a teaching assistanceship.
TA?
> The reason is
>simple--you are expected to go into academia and need the experience. Also,
>they get a cheap "professor" out of the deal that can do the dirty work of
>teaching while the real profs can do research.
Har, har, har ........ you mean get reasearch grants and do little
else ......
> Very few MBA students will
>get an assitanceship, for they are expected to be working "real" jobs during
>their studies and going to school part time. They are generally quite easy
>to get. They are not like scholarships. Assistanceships are part of a
>department's budget. They expect most full-time students to have them.
>
>There is no catch, other than you'll be dirt poor. It is not a loan. It is
>cheap labor for them.
YUP.
Tracy
> No one should pay for their PhD. Almost all PhD candidates have
> assistanceships. If you don't have one, you've done something very, very
> wrong. In fact, it is generally required, since they want you for cheap
> labor.
This is not universally true. Most of the PhDs I know were already
working in their field before getting the PhD, and kept their jobs
while attending grad school.
> Most people do this for grad school. It's really the only way to go unless
> your employer pays for education.
Maybe in your experience. But again, this is far from being
universally true.
Robert St Amant
In my experience, there are two kinds of assistantships for grad
school: teaching assistantships and research assistantships. (There
are also departmental fellowships, which don't require any particular
duties, but these tend to be awarded through a very competitive
process.) TAs work for professors doing things like grading papers,
subbing in the classroom, and so forth. RAs do research in a
professor's area. In engineering and the sciences, an RA is what to
shoot for, since the work you do often folds into your dissertation.
From the amount specified by your friend, I'd guess that his field is
in the humanities, where stipends tend to be much lower (e.g., my
students in computer science get three or four times what your friend
hopes to get.) Still worthwhile though. From what I understand,
support in the humanities is really tough to come by. It's not
something you can automatically count on, unless you're a very special
applicant in some way. If your friend can manage on $6K per year,
doing work for the department while still making progress on his own
research, however, there's no downside, in the sense that I'm not
aware of any alternatives that I'd consider better.
--
Rob St. Amant
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~stamant
Mike (Remove X's to reply)
I agree with everything you said. My ex wife got a $5,000 assistanceship
when she was in grad school for her Masters in English Literature. Living
on less thatn $500 is interesting--lots of mac and cheese and hot dogs for
her (we were just begining dating at the time). I was looking into my PhD
in Information Systems. Their assistanceship would be about $20,000--a
significant difference. Of course, for them, it was required. They wanted
you to be around all the time. They did not accept part time students.
They really wanted the cheap labor.
Thanks,
Mike
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Mike (Remove X's to reply)
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>
> > The reason is
> >simple--you are expected to go into academia and need the experience.
Also,
> >they get a cheap "professor" out of the deal that can do the dirty work
of
> >teaching while the real profs can do research.
>
> Har, har, har ........ you mean get reasearch grants and do little
> else ......
>
LOL! Yes... I should have put "research" in quotes! :-)
Thanks,
Mike
Mike
> Thus said MrStr...@hotmail.com (Mike):
> >A friend of mine is thinking of going to graduate school, but does not
> >want to take on the loads of graduate school debt that lots of
> >students incur.
> >
> >He is thinking of trying to apply for what is called a graduate
> >assistantship. In this set-up, the college would waive his tuition
> >charges, and he would also have a job at the college that would pay
> >him a little over six thousand dollars a year.
> >
> >One thing I've noticed, is that my friend seems to think that these
> >assistanships are easy to get.
>
> What is he going to graduate school to study, and for what degree?
> Some fields have lots of them easily available, others have few and
> the process of getting one is inevitably political. Those fields that
> do have them generally reserve them for people seeking their most
> advanced degrees (Ph.D. or whatever.)
>
He is thinking of going to grad school for a criminal
justice/intelligence type degree. I believe it's something that would
help him get a job with the FBI, or a Federal Law Enforcement agency.
Mike
His room and board won't be a problem. He said he would move back in
with his parents if he decides to go the graduate school route. His
parents live in the same town as the university he's looking at. So in
that respect, the $6000.00 or so a year he gets for an assistanship
(if he gets it) will go far since he won't have to support himself.
Mike
Thanks for the advice and information everybody. It's been very
helpful and I'm printing this out for my friend.
> Mike