[tseabrooks]

Maybe this depends greatly on the particular discipline you're in. In the US it's not that difficult to get your Master's degree in C.S. for free + monthly stipend, at least in my experience.

I know a number of people across the natural science disciplines who TA'd / RA'd their way through Grad School. I might be misunderstanding how common this is but it seems any discussion of Grad School cost should discuss the fact that natural science students will often get paid to go to Grad School in the US.

[insertdisktwo]

Please let me know if this applies in the case outside of being a PhD student.

The US educational system has a tradition of issuing a Masters as a consolation price to PhD dropouts who've done enough of the coursework/research.

Bona-fide Masters programs with scholarships/stipends are very hard to find. If there's counterexamples I would like to know about them. From my experience, these are very rare.

[josephhardin]

My (Terminal at that institution) masters was paid for completely, as well as being paid a salary. In STEM fields I'm not sure I know anyone who didn't have their MS paid for. Sure, some professors will push you to get a Ph.D. but you always have the option of just writing your thesis and finishing.

[tseabrooks]

Thats a good point. Most of the folks I'm talking about were in my PhD cohort and we all decided the PhD wasn't for us (My PhD program left a very bad taste in my mouth towards higher ed). I've known a few Masters students who got stipends but the majority were PhD students.

[jessriedel]

My understanding is that this is only true if you are on the PhD track. Natural science departments subsidize the master's students with the expectation that most will labor for the professors for 3-5 years as part of their PhD research. The TAing does not actually cover the costs.