<p>One more thing about the debt. If I had the choice between an engineering Masters degree with a TA vs. an engineering masters where I worked hourly in some prof’s lab and the only debt I took was the government based subsidized and unsubsidized loans that you get from the FAFSA, I would actually avoid the TA. </p>
<p>The government loans are a very good government program. They are totally reasonable. They adjust to your income so they are only like ~10% of your salary, forgive after 25 years, defer for 6 months after graduation, have reasonable interest rates, some of the interest is subsidized when you’re in grad school, and there are other forgiveness programs for those loans. They are the lesser evil in my mind. I’m sure some would disagree.</p>
<p>An engineer without a TA with can get through a Masters program in 1 1/2 years and get at $70,000 job, or they can work with a prof for a year or semester and make sure they are comfortable with that prof before committing to a PhD.</p>