<p>FYI: Masters students can get funding in some ways other than profs paying thru their grants.</p>
<ol>
<li>National labs or companies have programs to pay for a masters education full time as a recruiting tool…or for their employees</li>
<li>Occasionally, to recruit great masters level students, the school will offer the chance to be a TA to get full funding.</li>
<li>Sometimes a TA position is available your 2nd semester in grad school. I was able to be a TA with full funding after my first year in my terminal masters program. This would be unheard of where I got my PhD at Michigan though.</li>
<li>Sometimes profs will pay students hourly, and they will receive the equivalent of a stipend. They will still need to pay tuition.</li>
</ol>