Making money while in grad school

[Jersey_Steve]

I suppose the question is how.

I'm thinking of going to grad school, not really decided yet. But, and this is a big but, I don't want to have to go back to the local supermarket for my paychecks. And I've heard the stories of a full-time job plus grad school, and it doesn't sound like a very good idea.

Is it common for grad students to work for the college? If so, what are my options and what's the average? I don't expect it to be the same as a full-time job, but like I said, no going back to the supermarket for me.

To borrow a quote from a recent American Dad, "We don't have any money to pay for college, do you accept adventure?"

[Winter Storm]

And I've heard the stories of a full-time job plus grad school, and it doesn't sound like a very good idea.


I've been working full-time, while attending grad school part-time (6 credits per semester) and it was totally doable. Are you thinking of taking classes full-time?

[WorkInProgress]

Will your current job allow you to work part time while attending grad school?

[Jersey_Steve]

Will your current job allow you to work part time while attending grad school?

I doubt it... I would like to go for psychology. Research psychology to be exact.
And at my current job, let's just say that clinical psychology might be more beneficial to them.

I mean, I could go for a CS grad program and probably still work, but I've been told you should have a specific concentration for your grad degree. Which I have for psychology, but not for computer science.

I would like to work on campus, I feel it might be the easiest way to do things, but I'm open for suggestions.

[wordsmith]

My brother worked a full time job, a part time job, and gave private lessons on the side while in grad school (in addition to the teaching he had to do for his assistantship). He never slept.

[BlueEyedFunOne]

Look to see if your school has grad assistantships. You'll work part-time somewhere on campus, and your tuition will be cut in half. I did one in grad school - I worked in the Admissions office a few days a week for $9 an hour. It wasn't much, but it helped. The tuition break is the best part.

[steph78]

Yeah, assistantships are the way to go! I got full tuition waived plus about $15,000 a year for working as a TA while in grad school. It was a lot of work (they paid me for 13 hours a week, but in reality I spent more time than that on that job what with all the grading, office hours, etc. on top of the actual hours spent in the classroom teaching...plus I was taking 12 credit hours/semester of my own graduate-level classes) but all in all it was a sweet sweet deal considering my tuition was fully waived AND I got paid on top of that. You usually get hooked up with these deals through your specific program/department if you want to teach something related to your own course of studies.

Or, if you want to do a research-oriented masters thesis you can get a research assistantship. My husband is getting full tuition waiver plus about $24,000 a year for doing research for his professor (he gets more money because he's a PhD candidate instead of a lowly masters student). Of course that research is the topic of his thesis so it's really pretty self-serving - works out great for him! The money comes from an outside research grant his professor got, whereas my TA assistantship money came directly from the school itself.

[gradgirl]

Hey, I'm in a program for clinical psychology, and it's pretty easy to find PhD-level psychology programs that give all their students guarenteed assistantships (tuition and monthly stipend). You can find them for clinical or other types of psychology. I'm not sure how many psych master programs offer tuition and stipends, but I'd bet you could find some that do. The assistantships generally seem to be teaching or doing research, and help with your overall experience. I know that my program discourages students from working an outside job b/c the assistantship and classwork keep you busy enough. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about grad programs in psych, I've talked with a lot of people about different programs and might be able to help you out with any questions. Good luck!!!