Teaching Assistantship Amounts in Ph.D. programs

[McPsychy]

I'm wondering at the larger state schools, what is the average amount or amount you have recieved as a TAship during your graduate studies in a education department or educational psychology? More specifically a teaching assistantship that is your primary funding source with tuition remission, not to teach a class (i.e. instructor or adjunct). I'm assuming anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000ish is a good guess. Also did you get health insurance?

 

Specifically, anyone in the Indiana University School of Education as a grad student or know funding amounts from their assistantships?

 

Thanks!!!

[srtahowell]

Hi, McPsychy!  I'm not sure about TAship amounts, but I'm glad to see that you're talking about IU.  Have you been accepted into one of their programs for the fall?

[ctcpx084]

McPsychy: I'm not sure if you've found out more about this in the last two weeks, but I thought I'd pitch in. I was a graduate assistant at a small state school, and I made $7700 the first year, and $8200 the second. This was in New Mexico, where there's something in the law that prevents schools from giving a tuition waiver. In other words, my tuition came out of that money, and my housing ended up coming out of it as well since I lived on campus both years. I actually received a paycheck every two weeks for $11.71, after deductions. This is at a really small (4,000 students) state school.

 

Afterwards, I was a student at the University of New Mexico, which isn't IU big but it's much bigger than the situation I described above (~28,000). I didn't have a TA or GA there, but I looked into it pretty hard, as I was really hoping to make something happen. A TA or GA, studying at the doctoral level, made anywhere from $3000 to $22000 per year, depending on the percentage FTE of the TA/GA; most assistantships were 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4. The only opportunity I received while there was for a 10 hour per week assistantship. I never found out the stipend, as I was working full-time at that point and unwilling to give up a salary to make a few hundred or thousand dollars and get a small tuition waiver.

 

I don't know if that helps you at all, but perhaps it gives a little perspective. I can't speak for big big big schools, as I've never attended one (unless you consider 28,000 the biggest of the big...!). You can find the TA/GA salaries for UNM at http://ogs.unm.edu/funding/assistantships.html.

 

Oh, and I don't think health insurance was included in these, but I don't remember. It's been a while! I don't think it was--this was five years ago.

[Firled]

I was accepted to a large state school and offered $13,000 per academic year plus a tuition rebate so I wouldn't have to pay tuition. I accepted a private university with a tuition rebate and $18,000 academic year stipend.

It's not worth it to go into a Ph.D. program with no funding. Tenure track Jobs are hard to find so why go into debt?