Do graduate students get paid for working?

[Need advice]

I have decided to pursue a masters degree. I was wondering if masters/graduate students get paid? I have heard several sources tell me you get about 12 grand throughout the entire year, which is fine with me. Somebody told me that you have to pay tuition and you don't get anything. Very different. Just curious as I'm trying to budget my income for the next few years. Let me know if you have done grad work.

[rmorelan]

I have decided to pursue a masters degree. I was wondering if masters/graduate students get paid? I have heard several sources tell me you get about 12 grand throughout the entire year, which is fine with me. Somebody told me that you have to pay tuition and you don't get anything. Very different. Just curious as I'm trying to budget my income for the next few years. Let me know if you have done grad work.

 

kind of depends on the school/program. Everyone can apply to some external funding through the government and some programs guarantee a certain wage to their students. There is TAing as well.

 

I was quite lucky and got about 20K all in all, but that was probably on the high side.

[KraftD]

To add to the above, you still do pay tuition as a graduate student, so that will come out of anything you receive. Speaking from the grad school in the sciences, if you get a scholarship, say an NSERC or CIHR, many places will still give you some amount of money on top of them. Ex. U of Manitoba gave ~7500 on top of a MSc level national award. Without an award you got $15-16K/yr from what I remember.

[osteon]

As others have mentioned, it depends on the program/supervisor/school. Some will give you absolutely nothing and leave funding up to you through scholarships and others will guarantee something like $17,500 for MSc and $21,000 for PhD. I would say the typical grad student would get around $15,000 per year which could be a combo of TA, scholarships, tuition waivers and grant money. However, I have seen numerous students get to the $30,000-$40,000 range per year, and some even in the $60,000-$70,000 range. This is mostly tax free too. Conversely there are some students with nothing, so it can be quite variable.

[Falling]

As others have mentioned, it depends on the program/supervisor/school. Some will give you absolutely nothing and leave funding up to you through scholarships and others will guarantee something like $17,500 for MSc and $21,000 for PhD. I would say the typical grad student would get around $15,000 per year which could be a combo of TA, scholarships, tuition waivers and grant money. However, I have seen numerous students get to the $30,000-$40,000 range per year, and some even in the $60,000-$70,000 range. This is mostly tax free too. Conversely there are some students with nothing, so it can be quite variable.

 

I assume these people apply for and get a bunch of grants/awards?

[osteon]

Not necessarily. A CIHR PhD award is $35,000. There are other provincial/institutional awards that exceed $30,000 as well. And there's also other national tri-council awards that are worth $50,000. Get one of those and add in some TA and you're over $40,000. Any supplemental awards on top of the big ones are usually small (I.e. Under $5,000). This is because for most schools, you are only allowed to hold one major award at a time and not allowed to double up. For example you can't hold a CIHR award concurrently with an arthritis network award.

[Falling]

Interesting. Thanks for the info

[Chamilt]

As others have mentioned, it varies WIDELY. So if money is an issue, as it is with most people. Look into the funding of the program (not just school) specifically.

 

 

I was in a program that had really ****ty funding for it's grad students ( ie 12 grand for MSc, and 20 for PhD) and they took tuition out of that! So, as a lowly masters student I did not make enough to live, even the PhDs struggled. Compared to another MSc program at my school, got 20 grand!

 

Then scholarships can really help out but don't bank on getting one, especially as a masters or first/second year phd student. Many don't get them until there upper years.

 

Or just get a vanier (50 grand tax free!)

 

Finally, depending on the program also take into account that they funding only lasts 2 yrs for Msc and 4 for phd and many students do not finish in this funding window. So if money is an issue, you best have a plan if funding runs out and you need another 6 or 12 months or more.... to finish. I've seen several phds take 8+ years and some masters take 4+....

[osteon]

As others have mentioned, it varies WIDELY. So if money is an issue, as it is with most people. Look into the funding of the program (not just school) specifically.

 

 

I was in a program that had really ****ty funding for it's grad students ( ie 12 grand for MSc, and 20 for PhD) and they took tuition out of that! So, as a lowly masters student I did not make enough to live, even the PhDs struggled. Compared to another MSc program at my school, got 20 grand!

 

Then scholarships can really help out but don't bank on getting one, especially as a masters or first/second year phd student. Many don't get them until there upper years.

 

Or just get a vanier (50 grand tax free!)

 

Finally, depending on the program also take into account that they funding only lasts 2 yrs for Msc and 4 for phd and many students do not finish in this funding window. So if money is an issue, you best have a plan if funding runs out and you need another 6 or 12 months or more.... to finish. I've seen several phds take 8+ years and some masters take 4+....

 

For tri-council (NSERC/CIHR/SSHRC) it's only 1 year for MSc and 3 for PhD = 99% guarantee you need something else for at least one year of your degree if you want money each year.

[Chamilt]

For tri-council (NSERC/CIHR/SSHRC) it's only 1 year for MSc and 3 for PhD = 99% guarantee you need something else for at least one year of your degree if you want money each year.

 

 

Sorry, I was referring to funding from the school. Which now that I think about, some schools do not offer guaranteed money and you either need to be funded through the grants of your supervisor or secure external scholarships.

[dassy]

Sorry, I was referring to funding from the school. Which now that I think about, some schools do not offer guaranteed money and you either need to be funded through the grants of your supervisor or secure external scholarships.

 

 

Referring to your former point, generally if your supervisor agrees to take you on in their lab then they have to commit to paying you for the length of the time in the lab. Essentially they have to show the department that they can fund you for x amount of years before their allowed to accept you.

 

Almost all schools will fund your studies. However, some may require that you TA in exchange for some of your funding. This all varies per department and is normally written clearly on their websites so remember to look this up before you apply/accept.

[Chamilt]

Referring to your former point, generally if your supervisor agrees to take you on in their lab then they have to commit to paying you for the length of the time in the lab. Essentially they have to show the department that they can fund you for x amount of years before their allowed to accept you.

 

Almost all schools will fund your studies. However, some may require that you TA in exchange for some of your funding. This all varies per department and is normally written clearly on their websites so remember to look this up before you apply/accept.

 

Yes, I agree. A supervisor usually won't be shy to tell you either he/she doesn't have the funding or space to take on more students. I was just commenting on some differences I've seen between schools in the same program.

 

That is, the school I attended, the department provided a minimum of X dollars in terms of scholarship and TAship. Then another school I almost went to, the funding came through the supervisors grants. Therefore, yes the prof would have to show the school they could fund you.

 

Just different funding models....which one is better is up to debate.