<p>Is it really that much of a waste of money and time for the school? I agree that it's a big waste of time (and perhaps money) for the student. But for the school? Keep in mind that research universities LIVE off of their graduate students. It's the graduate students who are the TA's. It's the graduate students who are the RA's. Basically,graduate students are a pool of very cheap and highly skilled labor for the school. What do you have to pay them, really? A living stipend and tuition? That's less money than these people would make in the private sector. So really, when you look at it that way, you could say that schools are actually MAKING money off of their graduate students.</p>