Wages and stipends for University graduate students vary significantly across and within academic departments, with those in the liberal arts arena earning much lower wages than their colleagues in the sciences.
"Graduate students do complain about their level of support. In some departments the wages are low for the amount of work required," said Graduate Student Council President Chris Palma, a student in the astronomy department.
Because graduate students have different financial priorities from their undergraduate counterparts, their general living expenses can be a hefty tug on their purse strings.
"It is difficult in many instances to live off of that much money in a year, considering most of us are in our upper 20s or 30s and may have families," said Sandra Timm, fifth-year graduate student in the biology department.
Some graduate students said they feel it is unjust that the science departments often make more money than students in the liberal arts departments.
"Liberal arts grads are essentially working for their own ends. Financially, they have a very difficult row to hoe. It is expected and commonplace for them to take second jobs to get by. Scientists-in-training are essentially full-time lab technicians," said Justin T. Reese, Graduate Arts and Sciences School honor representative.
"Liberal arts grad school funding is a disaster; I can't stress how bleak the financial and career prospects are, at least from what I have witnessed. Further, in science grad school, we are making what would surely be an insulting wage for most secretaries and janitors," Reese said.
Michael Sierk, fifth-year graduate student in the biophysics department and Graduate Biosciences Society president, noted the disparity among graduate student wages. Sierk said he agrees that students put forth a great deal of effort but receive few rewards.
"Considering the amount of time and work that most grad students put in, they should be paid more," he said. "However, most people know going in that they are not going to make a lot of money. They do it because they love what they are doing."
Robert J. Huskey, associate dean of the Graduate Arts & Sciences School, said he wishes students could make more money so they can dedicate themselves to their work. When students are forced to find outside jobs, it takes away from their studies, Huskey said.
"It would be good if we could increase salaries in some way in order to get to a wage that would allow [the students] more time for studies. That's what I'm interested in," he said.
Explaining the disparity
Reasons for the wage discrepancies vary from experience in the field to the graduate student's level of education.
If a student possesses his or her master's degree, he or she is at a financial advantage.
Huskey explained salaries also depend on "percent effort."
If a student puts forth 100 percent effort, he or she will receive a full salary. He said very few teaching assistants do put in that much work.
He added working at the 100 percent effort level can mean different things for different students. Working at the 100 percent effort level might mean working 20 hours a week for some, while for others it depends on the number of labs, discussions or courses taught each semester.
There are some economic reasons as well for why the different departments pay such wide-ranging wages, Palma said.
"Some departments receive millions of dollars in research grant funding while others do not. Some departments are very small with only a few TAs, and some departments are huge with several hundred grad students and lots of TAs," he said.
He added that although students do complain about their level of financial support, none officially have requested that the Graduate Student Council take any action on this issue.
Steven Stern, Economics Prof. and director of graduate studies in the department, said there are discrepancies in wages because responsibilities between departments and teaching assistant vary.
Stern said in the economics department, for example, a teaching assistant works 176 hours per semester. These graduate students receive $5,500 per year. On the other hand, a graduate student with more experience -- at least three years at the graduate level -- makes $4,000 per course taught.
This disparity, coupled with the fact that wages are low in general, also concerns Stern, who worries about attracting top graduate students to the University.
"We've had a lot of trouble recruiting instructors because of the financial aid offered," he said.
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He added that prospective University graduate students often do not apply because the salaries offered are not enough to tempt them. They often are able to find better programs at other universities and therefore decline the opportunity to come to Charlottesville.
Stretching the dollar
There are three options by which a student can obtain income while enrolled fulltime at the University.
A graduate teaching assistant (GTA) must uphold the responsibilities of leading classrooms, lectures, discussions and/or labs.
Being a graduate administrative assistant (GAA) involves fulfilling administrative assignments and completing other office work around the University, while enrolled in a formal internship program.
Graduate research students (GRAs) work with faculty members and professional investigators to research specific projects.
In addition to these three income sources, students may apply for fellowships -- financial rewards based on merit. These grants are made possible by endowments, the state government, tuition and other private contributions.
Despite the grim outlook, Huskey said the University is, in fact, looking to help graduate students earn better salaries.
"We are aware of the need for financial support. We are working on it, and things are being done. But it is a slow process," he said.
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