[drewda]

Many grad students are employed as research assistants in labs. It's federal agencies like NIH and NSF that are supporting those labs with grants.

For grad students who are serving as teaching assistants or as full "instructors of record," they are still being paid less and given substantially fewer benefits than tenured faculty.

There are many factors driving the increase in the "list price" for undergraduate tuition — I doubt that the take-home pay of grad students and their health insurance are significant factors.