<p>Can anyone here tell me about master's or doctoral level assistantships? Is it like a regular job or more like a scholarship? Is it enough to pay the bills or do you have to eat noodles every night just to get by? Anything you can tell me would be great.</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Rowdy</p>
<p>Graduate assistantships are like a regular job. However, the work you’re going to be doing is usually (but not always) directly related to your field of study and is performed under the supervision of your advising professor. There are two main kinds of assistantships, research and teaching - as the names imply, they focus on two different aspects of academia.</p>
<p>For instance, I’m pursuing a master’s degree on a research assistantship and will be assisting my professor on a project to gather qualitative data from participants in a summer camp program for disabled children.</p>
<p>The size of the stipend depends on the field, the university and your level of study. I will earn an $11,000 stipend over ten months, which obviously isn’t really enough to live on… but coupled with summer earnings, it will significantly reduce my need for loans or parental assistance. It may not seem like much for a 20-hour-per-week job, but remember that the tuition/fee waiver is worth (for me) about $20,000, plus health coverage is provided which is about a $1,500 value.</p>