Average TA/RA Stipends

[aMusingsBlog]

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I wanted to ask what should be expected for a TA/RA assistantship stipend in a PhD Clinical Psychology Program.

What should I expect from most places, on average?

I thought the pay for the two was comparable....

Please help! 🙂

 

[AcronymAllergy]

RA-ships tend to be a bit more variable than TA-ships (within universities, anyway), as the former is often based on research grants, while the latter is usually department-funded.

Across universities, you're likely going to see a decent amount of variability. However, in general, graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities tend to pay their students less than those in business/economics and the hard sciences. I'd venture a (complete) guess that most TA and RA positions for clinical psych would fall between $10-20k/year, with the majority being toward the middle or lower end of that range. This is not including tuition remission.

 

[paramour]

Everyone in our program gets paid the same regardless of what you do (i.e., TA, RA, externship, fellowship, master of all, etc.), which seemed to be the case with most programs I interviewed at as well.

 

[OneAtATime]

Everyone in our program gets paid the same regardless of what you do (i.e., TA, RA, externship, master of all, etc.), which seemed to be the case with most programs I interviewed at as well.

Most programs I've looked at pay TA/RAs the same, often with a slight bump after completing the master's degree, with fellowships paying a little more. I think the actual pay rate varies significantly from university to university, depending both on cost of living and the financial health of a university/department. Both of those stipends seem to me to be on the low end of stipends, with $2000/semester being on the extreme low end.

When comparing offers between schools, consider not just the actual stipend, but the likelihood of summer funding, travel grants, IT support (you'd be surprised at the influence of unlimited free printing on the quality of life of a grad student!) including availability of SPSS/other software for students, etc.

 

[paramour]

Most programs I've looked at pay TA/RAs the same, often with a slight bump after completing the master's degree, with fellowships paying a little more. I think the actual pay rate varies significantly from university to university, depending both on cost of living and the financial health of a university/department. Both of those stipends seem to me to be on the low end of stipends, with $2000/semester being on the extreme low end.

When comparing offers between schools, consider not just the actual stipend, but the likelihood of summer funding, travel grants, IT support (you'd be surprised at the influence of unlimited free printing on the quality of life of a grad student!) including availability of SPSS/other software for students, etc.

Unlimited printing 😍. I have an industrial laser printer at home that I stopped using for school purposes unless I needed it in a crunch or in the middle of the night for some bizarre reason due to the massive number of trees that I started downing. Our labs hate psych grad students, especially around candidacy exams, because "you guys don't really read all those articles." We started printing in shifts so they'd stop glaring at us.

 

[JockNerd]

In my program TAs, RAs, and Fellows are all paid different amounts and the amount changes every year.

It's so variable within and across programs, and amounts have such different meanings depending on where you are, that thinking in averages is probably not useful. If Texas A & M pays something below average, say $12000, that's still WAY more money in Lubbock than $20000 is at Boston College.

 

[paramour]

I believe there was a thread here a few years back asking people about their stipend amounts, and it varied considerably. There were some folks receiving upwards of ~$20-28k+, whereas others were fortunate enough to be receiving ~$10-12K (and I think some received below this). As JN stated, it's entirely too variable across programs. Ask each program what you can expect from them, whether they offer different rates/benefits for different positions, and what other benefits may be available as a grad student (e.g., summer funding!!, travel stipends, software, printing, etc.).

 

[JockNerd]

e.g., summer funding!

This is important too, good point. Where I am, Fellows (such as me) are on 12 month appointments and TAs are on 8-month appointments. But, b/c of that, I don't get paid to teach over summer but a TA would, and TAship+summer funding > Fellowship $.

I'd consider it on a case-by-case basis for each program you have an offer from, using all the info you can get on funding opportunities and factoring cost of living in the different areas.

 

[paramour]

This is important too, good point. Where I am, Fellows (such as me) are on 12 month appointments and TAs are on 8-month appointments. But, b/c of that, I don't get paid to teach over summer but a TA would, and TAship+summer funding > Fellowship $.

I'd consider it on a case-by-case basis for each program you have an offer from, using all the info you can get on funding opportunities and factoring cost of living in the different areas.

Interesting! For 2 of my 3 years, I was the project coordinator for my advisor's research grant (and was paid directly from said grant), and it was a 12 month appointment. I received more funding than others who only had 8 month appointments in our program, but it would have been equivalent funding had any of those students been granted summer funding as well due to the way that our department divvies up the funding (all things being equal to positions). But, summer funding tends to be rare around here, and 12 month appointments are even harder as hell to come by (my position's no longer even available).

Everyone is granted tuition remission for the summer if one wants to register for courses for the summer (not that there are usually psych courses available for one to take), and then everyone fights to the death for the stipends (partial/full) which typically don't even cover the fees that you need to pay for the full courseload that you are required to register for in order to receive the funding (or maybe w/ the latest increase, they just barely cover the fees; I stopped paying attention as I really didn't have a choice in the matter 😛).

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Everyone is granted tuition remission for the summer if one wants to register for courses for the summer (not that there are usually psych courses available for one to take), and then everyone fights to the death for the stipends (partial/full) which typically don't even cover the fees that you need to pay for the full courseload that you are required to register for in order to receive the funding (or maybe w/ the latest increase, they just barely cover the fees; I stopped paying attention as I really didn't have a choice in the matter 😛).

There has got to be at least one Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD) Comic about this.

 

[krisrox]

Stipend info is usually available on the program website with the full disclosure info.

 

[futureapppsy2]

In my program TAs, RAs, and Fellows are all paid different amounts and the amount changes every year.

It's so variable within and across programs, and amounts have such different meanings depending on where you are, that thinking in averages is probably not useful. If Texas A & M pays something below average, say $12000, that's still WAY more money in Lubbock than $20000 is at Boston College.

Only A&M isn't in Lubbock... [/nitpick]

In regards to the OP:

My stipend for my GAship is $1500/month (pre-tax; closer to $1400 post-tax), which I think is probably on the higher side for my program. Most stipends are generally in the $1200-$1400 a month range, though many actually pay by the hour (about $14-$17 an hour for 20 hours a week). Some year-round, and some are only 9 or 10 months (there are a few summer-only ones, I believe). For the university fellowships that come with stipends, a 12 month stipend is between $17,000 and $22,000, depending on the fellowship. One perk is that if you are a GA and a university fellowship recipient, you can actually receive both stipends/pay sources. Cost of living where I am is about $1000-$1200 a month for one person, so most assistantship stipends are doable, though some on the lower end may be tight.

At my undergrad, an area with a slightly higher cost of living (though nowhere near the NYC/LA/DC COL league), stipends were $14500 or so for 9 months. Any student can pick up $3000 or so for teaching intersession or summer courses, but only a few people a year tended to get that. People who are not TAs (around half the students) can still be paid hourly by a research lab or given a stipend by a practicum site but are not granted any tuition remission. Depending on their supervisor, those in non-TA positions sometimes can continue to work over the summer.

Stipend info is usually available on the program website with the full disclosure info.

Really? IIRC, I only saw this information available on a handful of program websites.

 

[Ollie123]

For what its worth, we have been been paid 13,500 for the 9 month (~18k with summer funding - which most people get in some form, and everyone in the well-funded labs gets) since I got here, and it was recently bumped to 14,500 9-month since it was decided we weren't "competitive".

That's in a city, but not a particularly expensive one. Everyone makes the same here regardless of TA/RA/GA/whatever else, as long as its an official university placement. Obvious exception of people on various fellowships since those are determined by outside sources. Occasional opportunities to earn a bit extra come up now and then, but certainly aren't the norm.

 

[paramour]

Really? IIRC, I only saw this information available on a handful of program websites.

I also don't recall seeing this info too frequently. I remember during my first application cycle, being AT my first interview when it suddenly dawned on me that programs gave you tuition remission and stipends, too! I was suddenly excited that I didn't have to go into immense amounts of debt.

For what its worth, we have been been paid 13,500 for the 9 month (~18k with summer funding - which most people get in some form, and everyone in the well-funded labs gets) since I got here, and it was recently bumped to 14,500 9-month since it was decided we weren't "competitive".

Y'know, I have no idea what our 9-month stipend is as I've managed to luck out with 12-month positions the entire time I've been here. On the one hand, I keep thinking that our program pays just a tad bit more than a few others I've seen posted so we must not be doing so bad, but then I keep forgetting that's likely b/c I work year round. 🙄

Our university had a COL bump at some point in the last 6 months and sent an email to notify everyone about it, and then immediately sent everyone a follow-up email informing everyone that graduate assistants do not count as employees so we do not qualify for the increase. In the meantime, we had received the previous COL increases without any such stipulations. 👎

 

[katinatree]

I'm just going to throw in my two cents (pun! hey-o!) and say that it's more important to consider what the cost of living is if you are going to boil choices down to dollars. I think that a couple of people mentioned this before, but just to hammer home the idea, I have experienced paying $1,400 per month for a 2-bedroom apartment in Queens, NYC... and that's a good deal. I have friends with mortgages less than that!