25% TA-ship?

[jose]

Hello people,

I'm new here and have been scouring the forums for info on this, but have yet to find anything. I've recently been offered admission to a program that includes a "25% TA-ship" . . . I was wondering what exactly this means? Does the TA-ship cover 25% of tuition costs?

I will ask the university, but was hoping to get some info here if possible. Thanks!

[nutmeg]

In my experience, a 25% TA gig means you'll be teaching one discussion section per week. Usually, having a TAship grants you some sort of fee waver and even health insurance. It's 25% because they figure you'll be working about 10 hours/week; a 50% TA job usually involves teaching two sections (and thus having that many more exams/papers to grade come midterms and finals). Hope that helps!

[jose]

Great, thanks for your response! I was a bit confused about the terminology - it makes much more sense now.

[jeanne]

25% means you'd be working 25% of a 40 hour work week ... theoretically.

You probably want to check with specifics at the school because I know some schools pay full tuition at certain percentages. 25% is the lowest I've seen, so you'll probably get that paid for you!

[jose]

Thanks, nutmeg. I'm going to chase down the details - they mentioned a small (very modest) stipend, so hopefully that isn't the entire "salary" for the TA-ship.