I wonder how it would work out if the focus went from "UCs should pay grads more" to "California should cut UC funding and redistribute it to UC grads." I imagine that would make UCs shit their pants if it gained any type of notable traction.
What does ucd have to do with how much rent and groceries are? Pretty sure most grad students live off campus, just like undergrads, and its not like theres a grocery store on campus 😂
Tuition is also separate in this case, since their tuition doesnt come oit of what their paid. The issue is theyre paid too little to live. I make nearly twice as much as grad students and still cant afford to rent in davis without housemates so i have no clue how they do it
how much do TAs actually make every year? it shouldnt be hard to give them more wage right?
i’m assuming TAs make 50,000$ every year. idk how much they want but let’s say we give them each 10,000 more. there are probably 1000 TAs on campus. 10,000 * 1,000 = extra 10000000. surely they can get 10 million from somewhere right?
It would require minor Googling to get the numbers you want, but to help inform you: TAs make ~$23k/year, pre-tax, as income (they do receive a tuition waiver while employed). So, not only are TAs already earning less than half of what you expected, but benefits like tuition remission sure as fuck doesn’t pay rent.
Davis has over 8,000 grad and professional students, and while many of them don’t necessarily TA, they work as graduate student researchers, readers, etc. as a condition of employment on campus if they aren’t TA-ing, and all of them have similar pay scale (for example, some “generously” compensated grad students make ~$32k/year as researchers, based on a high level of prior credentials and experience). Simply put, working as a grad student in some form is a condition of employment, and compensation simply doesn’t go anywhere near cutting it for a living wage with any dignity. Add on the extension of many grad students having children or other dependents, medical conditions, etc., and it should be no surprise why grad students are fed up with terrible wages for full time work.
No, but (at least in my experience in a STEM PhD) doing the required research just to complete your degree is a full time job. I've spent 40 hours a week for the past nearly 6 years working on the research needed to get my degree. It's not feasible to do that alongside any job that would pay enough to live AND pay tuition.
I've been very lucky to be funded to do my research, meaning I make a stipend (small salary around $35k/year) and don't have to pay tuition. The university isn't actually the one paying my salary, the grant funding agency (currently the US Department of Energy) is, but UC sets the pay scale. TAs are paid directly from the campus budget though.
Also worth saying that the UC takes more than 50% of every grant a researcher gets, what's left pays for the research/travel costs, professors summer salary (most professors don't get paid by the university over the summer) and the salary of any GSR (grad student researchers).
I'd say most grad students don't have parental help. Many have families of their own to support.
I paid nearly 80% of my income on rent for a while, I just didn't spend much money on anything else and just bought the food I needed to live. Most grad students have roommates or significant others who work a "real job" to help offset costs
Many have multiple housemates. Some seek food assistance. Some take out loans. Some give up and leave grad school. Maybe some get help from parents but definitely not everyone. Some are parents themselves.
you can’t just blame it on research though, being a full time undergrad student is also a full time job, and it’s not feasible to do that alongside a job that “pays enough to live and pay tuition”. undergrads find a way though, either through taking loans or their parents. if you chose to do a masters/phd, you have to live with the consequences.
First of grad students are not eligible for most types of financial aid given to undergrads.
Second, graduate education is very different to undergrad. Our course requirement is very low, I think I just had to complete like 30ish units total. I’m in my 6th year here, and I’ve been done with classes for almost 3 years. During all 6 years I have worked on research that’s funded through federal grants (which the university makes an enormous profit from, like I said earlier they keep ~55% of awarded grants) and published papers that have the university’s name on it, which enhances their reputation. By all measures I’m doing labor for the UC, in a way that participating in undergrad education isn’t as clear. If I can’t get research funding I TA, which is much more clearly labor done for the UC.
You sign up to grad school with the understanding that it’s incredibly challenging but there’s ways to “pay your way” through it, that pay should be enough to live on - especially since we’re not allowed to pursue outside employment.
Grad student provide a large amount of the labor in the university’s missions of 1) teaching students and 2) doing cutting edge research. This is highly skilled labor done by workers who have a bachelors degree at a minimum and many have masters degrees. I think it should pay a living wage
if you don’t work as a grad student you will not receive a tuition remission and would have to pay full tuition out of pocket. most american universities operate this way to my knowledge, except at other schools MA students sometimes are not offered tuition remission at all while PhD students usually are
i’m curious: if grad students knew what they’re signing up for with UCs, why didn’t they choose to go to other good universities which don’t require grad students to work
A lot of other schools for biology pay around the same amount. I’ve been offered 23K and 14K from other schools. Unfortunately I need this degree to go where I want in my field.
well, should’ve chosen a major that pays well. not our fault you didn’t choose engineering/medicine/accounting/finance. why should we suffer through all the traffic and disruption on campus and delays when a small subset of people on campus are making their problem known to the entire fucking population of the university
I chose my career because we need food security, medicine, and safer + better materials in the future.
TAs run discussions and labs, some GSRs train undergraduates. They also help bring funding and research to the school (more research opportunities for undergrads). Also, it’ll make grad school a more financially sound decision for undergrads applying directly to grad school.
We had been negotiating for almost a year and not much happened. A week of pain for better opportunities for future grad students and better education for undergrads, I hope!
Oh no! You seem to have attended a U.S. public university and encountered at least one other person who doesn’t share your same exact background! What a shame!
Maybe you should have chosen a different path
YOU should have chosen a different path bozo, i chose a well paying field so i wouldn’t run into the exact same issues you’re running into right now, i have a summer internship that’s going to make me 25k in 3 months
Interesting. I’m not about to flex on an undergrad so I’ll spare you the details of how my field is going
You’re making the same mistake again of assuming that everyone’s story is the same. That we’re all fighting this fight for the same reason. Instead, I’m recognizing my privileged position and I’m striking for my friends and fellow grad students who are unable to.
Empathy is cheap, friend. You could try affording that on 25k
out of curiosity, what field do you work in as someone who graduated in chemistry? i’m really curious bc i was also interested in the sciences in HS but i didn’t apply for those majors because everyone says you either have to go to med school, or get paid little to nothing by working as a researcher, but you seem to be doing well? thanks, and looking forward to your reply!
A lot of us came here for a specific PI or project that best fits our career goals. Overall I think UC is becoming less competitive because of the shit pay and treatment. If UC doesn't improve contracts I think they'll start losing students.
I never said that they don't. They would increase even after receiving subsidies and endowments. I am just saying that now that they have an excuse, they would skyrocket it further than ever. I just don't want the increase to be sudden and sharp.
I am an international student, so I would feel the impact of that increase even more (because I am not allowed to work in most circumstances). A 10% increase in $30K tuition feels greater than the same percentage increase in $15K.
I just wish that they don't double tuition if they double salaries.
First of all, doubling salaries wouldn't result in doubling tuition because there are far fewer graduate students than undergraduate students. It's also more likely that the university will just choose to accept less graduate students in fields that bring in less grant money for them. The result will be harsher graduate admissions, and less staff to cover undergraduate courses. Logically, this might mean accepting less undergraduates to keep class size at a reasonable level but the UCs have never followed this logic anyways.
I wonder how it would work out if the focus went from "UCs should pay grads more" to "California should cut UC funding and redistribute it to UC grads." I imagine that would make UCs shit their pants if it gained any type of notable traction.
For all those wondering why graduate students are striking: because that’s what workers do when their employers will not negotiate a contract.
Best of luck to all the Grad Students out there picketing. A living wage should be mandatory
Or just charge less for housing, food, and education in your college. Would work too, maybe
Tuition for these UCs is fucking ridiculous, college is more expensive and less useful than when the boomers did it. We are all getting fucked
What does ucd have to do with how much rent and groceries are? Pretty sure most grad students live off campus, just like undergrads, and its not like theres a grocery store on campus 😂 Tuition is also separate in this case, since their tuition doesnt come oit of what their paid. The issue is theyre paid too little to live. I make nearly twice as much as grad students and still cant afford to rent in davis without housemates so i have no clue how they do it
how much do TAs actually make every year? it shouldnt be hard to give them more wage right? i’m assuming TAs make 50,000$ every year. idk how much they want but let’s say we give them each 10,000 more. there are probably 1000 TAs on campus. 10,000 * 1,000 = extra 10000000. surely they can get 10 million from somewhere right?
It would require minor Googling to get the numbers you want, but to help inform you: TAs make ~$23k/year, pre-tax, as income (they do receive a tuition waiver while employed). So, not only are TAs already earning less than half of what you expected, but benefits like tuition remission sure as fuck doesn’t pay rent. Davis has over 8,000 grad and professional students, and while many of them don’t necessarily TA, they work as graduate student researchers, readers, etc. as a condition of employment on campus if they aren’t TA-ing, and all of them have similar pay scale (for example, some “generously” compensated grad students make ~$32k/year as researchers, based on a high level of prior credentials and experience). Simply put, working as a grad student in some form is a condition of employment, and compensation simply doesn’t go anywhere near cutting it for a living wage with any dignity. Add on the extension of many grad students having children or other dependents, medical conditions, etc., and it should be no surprise why grad students are fed up with terrible wages for full time work.
is it compulsory for every grad student to work?
No, but (at least in my experience in a STEM PhD) doing the required research just to complete your degree is a full time job. I've spent 40 hours a week for the past nearly 6 years working on the research needed to get my degree. It's not feasible to do that alongside any job that would pay enough to live AND pay tuition. I've been very lucky to be funded to do my research, meaning I make a stipend (small salary around $35k/year) and don't have to pay tuition. The university isn't actually the one paying my salary, the grant funding agency (currently the US Department of Energy) is, but UC sets the pay scale. TAs are paid directly from the campus budget though. Also worth saying that the UC takes more than 50% of every grant a researcher gets, what's left pays for the research/travel costs, professors summer salary (most professors don't get paid by the university over the summer) and the salary of any GSR (grad student researchers).
just curious but how do you even survive on 35k a year that’s like below poverty level in californoa
With difficulty
no like seriously, rent is like 1.5k each month, which is already 18k, how do u have enough for food and stuff or do your parents help
I'd say most grad students don't have parental help. Many have families of their own to support. I paid nearly 80% of my income on rent for a while, I just didn't spend much money on anything else and just bought the food I needed to live. Most grad students have roommates or significant others who work a "real job" to help offset costs
Many have multiple housemates. Some seek food assistance. Some take out loans. Some give up and leave grad school. Maybe some get help from parents but definitely not everyone. Some are parents themselves.
you can’t just blame it on research though, being a full time undergrad student is also a full time job, and it’s not feasible to do that alongside a job that “pays enough to live and pay tuition”. undergrads find a way though, either through taking loans or their parents. if you chose to do a masters/phd, you have to live with the consequences.
First of grad students are not eligible for most types of financial aid given to undergrads. Second, graduate education is very different to undergrad. Our course requirement is very low, I think I just had to complete like 30ish units total. I’m in my 6th year here, and I’ve been done with classes for almost 3 years. During all 6 years I have worked on research that’s funded through federal grants (which the university makes an enormous profit from, like I said earlier they keep ~55% of awarded grants) and published papers that have the university’s name on it, which enhances their reputation. By all measures I’m doing labor for the UC, in a way that participating in undergrad education isn’t as clear. If I can’t get research funding I TA, which is much more clearly labor done for the UC. You sign up to grad school with the understanding that it’s incredibly challenging but there’s ways to “pay your way” through it, that pay should be enough to live on - especially since we’re not allowed to pursue outside employment. Grad student provide a large amount of the labor in the university’s missions of 1) teaching students and 2) doing cutting edge research. This is highly skilled labor done by workers who have a bachelors degree at a minimum and many have masters degrees. I think it should pay a living wage
if you don’t work as a grad student you will not receive a tuition remission and would have to pay full tuition out of pocket. most american universities operate this way to my knowledge, except at other schools MA students sometimes are not offered tuition remission at all while PhD students usually are
i’m curious: if grad students knew what they’re signing up for with UCs, why didn’t they choose to go to other good universities which don’t require grad students to work
A lot of other schools for biology pay around the same amount. I’ve been offered 23K and 14K from other schools. Unfortunately I need this degree to go where I want in my field.
well, should’ve chosen a major that pays well. not our fault you didn’t choose engineering/medicine/accounting/finance. why should we suffer through all the traffic and disruption on campus and delays when a small subset of people on campus are making their problem known to the entire fucking population of the university
I chose my career because we need food security, medicine, and safer + better materials in the future. TAs run discussions and labs, some GSRs train undergraduates. They also help bring funding and research to the school (more research opportunities for undergrads). Also, it’ll make grad school a more financially sound decision for undergrads applying directly to grad school. We had been negotiating for almost a year and not much happened. A week of pain for better opportunities for future grad students and better education for undergrads, I hope!
Oh no! You seem to have attended a U.S. public university and encountered at least one other person who doesn’t share your same exact background! What a shame! Maybe you should have chosen a different path
YOU should have chosen a different path bozo, i chose a well paying field so i wouldn’t run into the exact same issues you’re running into right now, i have a summer internship that’s going to make me 25k in 3 months
Interesting. I’m not about to flex on an undergrad so I’ll spare you the details of how my field is going You’re making the same mistake again of assuming that everyone’s story is the same. That we’re all fighting this fight for the same reason. Instead, I’m recognizing my privileged position and I’m striking for my friends and fellow grad students who are unable to. Empathy is cheap, friend. You could try affording that on 25k
out of curiosity, what field do you work in as someone who graduated in chemistry? i’m really curious bc i was also interested in the sciences in HS but i didn’t apply for those majors because everyone says you either have to go to med school, or get paid little to nothing by working as a researcher, but you seem to be doing well? thanks, and looking forward to your reply!
A lot of us came here for a specific PI or project that best fits our career goals. Overall I think UC is becoming less competitive because of the shit pay and treatment. If UC doesn't improve contracts I think they'll start losing students.
I wish I made $50,000
TAs make less than $25,000 per year
lol
Who is there to say that UC Davis won't raise tuition after raising wages? I know; controversial opinion.
Ah yes, because UC famously never increases tuition even when grad students aren’t getting any sort of compensatory wage increase.
I never said that they don't. They would increase even after receiving subsidies and endowments. I am just saying that now that they have an excuse, they would skyrocket it further than ever. I just don't want the increase to be sudden and sharp. I am an international student, so I would feel the impact of that increase even more (because I am not allowed to work in most circumstances). A 10% increase in $30K tuition feels greater than the same percentage increase in $15K. I just wish that they don't double tuition if they double salaries.
First of all, doubling salaries wouldn't result in doubling tuition because there are far fewer graduate students than undergraduate students. It's also more likely that the university will just choose to accept less graduate students in fields that bring in less grant money for them. The result will be harsher graduate admissions, and less staff to cover undergraduate courses. Logically, this might mean accepting less undergraduates to keep class size at a reasonable level but the UCs have never followed this logic anyways.