BrownRice
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Unfortunately I can attest personally to the fact that this is a misleading statement. YES, grad students are often paid a small salary. In the sciences it is usually for some type of a lab research study done on federal or private industry grant money. BUT, it does not cover much more than basic living expenses. It would normally be between $1500 and $2000 dollars a month at the most. Below is one ESTIMATE I found handy to gauge the cost of the average tuition and fees and living expenses for a graduate student in the USA.
Tuition - $43,930
Room & Board - $18,973*
Books & Supplies - $1,200
Personal Expenses - $1,300
Travel - $500
Mandatory Health Insurance - $1,800 (estimated)
Matriculation Fee (1st year students) - $500
Total Cost - $68,203
http://www.grad.jhu.edu/admissions/cost-financial-aid/
The starred amount for room and board is what is normally covered by being a "paid" position.
This is pretty spot on with what I've read. I read last night he received a salary of about $24k (so that would be $2k a month) for his work at the University. I've never heard of Ph.D programs being free for science per another poster (not saying it's not true, never heard it though). I wonder if that's because you can only get in with a full scholarship? Re: the health insurance, he was probably covered under his parents since he was single and under age 26.