LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Students a part of the United Campus Workers are calling for a change in grad student wages and other concerns on the University of Kentucky's campus. They want to see a $25,000 minimum stipend for all grad school workers by 2025. They’re calling it $25 for ‘25.
The graduate school's page shows that for the 2024 fiscal year, baseline stipends for teaching and research assistants fell between around $23,000 and $10,000. Students shared that current wages make making ends meet harder.
Riley Wilkins is a 35-year-old second-year grad student. She's studying English. It's a rigorous program.
She says, "They want us to go to conferences, they want us to publish, to be r-1 scholars. But unfortunately, we're just not given to opportunity to be scholars and good instructors at the same time -- and part of that, too is our wages."
Wilkins says after taxes she makes about $18,500. That's a little more than $2,000 a month for the nine months she gets paid.
"So we don’t get summer funding. So, we're supposed to make that funding stretch,” says Wilkins.
Those funds pay for rent, plus utilities, and Wilkins is a type 1 diabetic. She says, "That leaves very little to take care of myself and take care of my dog."
So she's turned to other means, credit cards.
"Now, I've maxed out three credit cards, which is something that I worked so hard to get myself out of,” says Wilkins.
She explains that the American dream used to mean getting a four-year degree and getting a job. But now the job market is looking for so much more, like master’s and doctorates. Wilkins says it comes at a cost.
She says, "We're hardly paid and we're also told that our future is precarious."
Members who organized this United Campus Workers rally say, unfortunately, Wilkin’s story isn't uncommon. They want to level the playing field across all studies.
Graduate student and UCW member Anika Jensen says, "We're teaching, we're publishing, we're doing research, and we want our wages to reflect our contributions. We also want our wages to be able to support us as human beings."
So far, they've gotten more than 300 signatures of support, and they want more students to know they're there for them, too. The university released a statement acknowledging the important role these students play. It also says:
“We are not the University of Kentucky without our graduate students and continue to implement changes to further support them. Our graduate students receive tuition scholarships, health insurance and yearly stipends for efforts related to their studies and research here at the university. The UK tuition scholarships for graduate students now also cover all mandatory fees and we are in the process of implementing minimum – or baseline – graduate stipends for each discipline for the first time.
We know a majority of UK programs already provide stipends at or above the average of national benchmark institutions. However, requiring minimums will ensure every TA, RA and GA receives competitive stipends and benefits, along with their tuition scholarships. These steps are the beginning, not the end, to further investing in our graduate students.”
Wilkins says, "The English department, colleagues, fellow students can’t live off of their emotional and psychological support."
As she gets back to her day, she just wants to be heard by the administration and valued.
"I would want administration to understand that we're just asking to be able to live and make UK better and invest in us. If you’re gonna want us as graduate students then you should invest in us,” says Wilkins.
