By
The Wildcat Opinions Board
The Arizona Board of Regents is set to discuss a proposal today which would partially - if not completely - eliminate tuition fees for all Arizona graduate teaching assistants.
True, the state may not be properly equipped to dole out full tuition waivers to every TA in Arizona, but need-based financial compensation for TAs needs to be implemented. After all, it already exists at 19 other educational institutions such as Stanford and Harvard.
That's right - nearly 20 other schools nationwide already give their TAs some sort of financial aid. Yet, 20 is quite a lonely number considering the hundreds of other institutions that provide no compensation for its TAs.
The University of Arizona is a prime example of one of these institutions.
It seems there is not enough money in the state purse to compensate all TAs. But what the state needs to focus its attention on is developing a program that gives financial aid to the TAs who most need it, as opposed to a blanket tuition waiver for all.
The money they can apply for is in the form of federal loans that must be repaid. They currently receive no need-based funding from the state.
At the UA, salaries for TAs range from about $7,500 to $16,000 a year, depending on the department and level of responsibility required. This is a sorry amount of money for any person to have to survive on, let alone pay yearly university fees.
Case in point - graduate English student John David Miles. Although he may care just for himself, Miles said after coughing up fees for tuition, rent and textbooks, he is left with only about $500 per month to put towards gas, food and living expenses - all on a salary of barely $13,000 a year.
Just imagine how much that spending money is decreased for graduate students caring for significant others and even children.
This is where the state needs to step in. Even a partial tuition waiver for TAs in the most dire straits would help.
The state should implement a need-based funding program for TAs in Arizona who need the most help. Although not all graduates are struggling to pay the bills as much as students like Miles, there are certainly many graduates out there who would benefit from state funding - however minimal it may be.
