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<p>I actually strongly suspect that that’s false at least at MIT (which as far as I can tell, is the only school where such a discussion would matter anyway). Funding for academic master’s programs tend to be professor-oriented (as opposed to departmentally oriented). If somebody - whether your advisor, reader, or anybody else, wants to bring you on as a research or teaching assistant, then you’ve just secured yourself a source of funding, regardless of what degree specification you’re obtaining. </p>
<p>As a case in point, I even knew some MIT MBA students who obtained (partial) funding as TA’s for engineering classes. (Granted, they did have prior engineering degrees). If even an MBA student can serve as an engineering TA, I don’t see why a student pursuing a master’s degree without specification couldn’t do the same.</p>