[avani]

Fun fact: buying out usually means "use grant money to cover hiring an adjunct for a term," not forgoing salary. Adjuncts are cheap (they cost less than a grad student, since they don't get benefits), and a successful research semester tends to make that money back with interest in overhead from the next grant submitted.

[Cyph0n]

Who said a grad student gets benefits? At my college at least, grad students are basically students with - if they're lucky - a stipend and a tuition waiver.

[xapata]

A student can buy into a group insurance plan, whereas a contract worker cannot.

[Cyph0n]

Oh I see, thanks for the info.