Do TAships pay minimum wage?

[pbnc]

Do you get paid minimum wage for TA-ing? 

[Leo168]

Pretty sure this depends on the school.

Recently attended the informational session at the UMN and was told that their Graduate Assistants (working as TAs, Gallery Assistants, Facility Aids, etc.) get paid $20/hr--well above minimum. 

I don't know about other schools, though. 

[Neist]

I can't speak directly regarding fine arts TAships, but most TAs/RAs/GAs get paid a flat yearly stipend under the assumption that one works a certain amount of hours per week (which is routinely 20 hours a week). However, the issue is more complicated than simply calculating X number of hours per each program's stipend.

Some programs might not pay you during the summer. Some might expect you to work during the breaks. Some have extra stipends during the summers that one can apply to.

That all said, I probably get paid around the $20 an hour mark, and I'm in a program that has pretty low stipends. Some well-funded history programs pay twice what I get paid. 

[Eigen]

It really depends how efficient you are in time, and the course load. 

For the stated number of hours, most TA positions (as mentioned) pay fairly well above minimum wage. That said, sometimes you end up spending more time than expected, especially at certain points of the semester. 

In the end, TA positions don't really work well with an "hourly wage" idea, as they're a salary model- pay in exchange for a particular set of services rendered.