Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) across the humanities at the University of Arkansas (U of A) were on the brink of financial collapse.

According to a massive study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the living wage for a single adult living in the Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers area of Arkansas is $22,194. Across the humanities, wages for GTAs are drastically lower than that. Master’s students in English and Creative Writing make just $12,500, and most teach two core university classes per semester. In the Music, Sociology, and Theater departments, Master’s students make $12,600. In the History and Anthropology departments, they make $12,700.

GTAs are absolutely vital to the U of A. According to a survey of 697 colleges and universities published in U.S. News and World Reports, the University of Arkansas ranks 9th in the nation in terms of percentage of classes taught by graduate students. 18% of U of A classes were taught by graduate students in the most recent year for which data is available.

Because stipends are so low, many GTAs work second jobs and/or rely on government assistance such as SNAP benefits in order to survive. In this way, the U of A is pushing its own operating costs onto taxpayers. According to the most recent data, 47% of U of A graduate students experience food insecurity—that is, not knowing where their next meal will come from—over the course of the academic year. GTAs teaching core university classes should not have to rely on food pantries to keep from starving.

Based on the cost of tuition per credit hour and the ratio of in-state to out-of-state students, each English Department GTA teaching a 2/2 course load with the standard 19 students per class generates an estimated $114,238 in revenue a year. For a History GTA teaching 35 students per class, this figure jumps to $210,439. This means that GTAs take home only 6-11% of the revenue they generate, before taking into account University fees, a 40% share of healthcare insurance coverage, and taxes.

GTAs at other state schools are often paid much higher. Graduate students in the Creative Writing MFA program at the University of Virginia make $20,000 per year; they teach no classes in their first year and one class in the following semesters. Creative Writing students at Virginia Tech also make $20,000 per year. At the University of Michigan MFAs are paid $21,778 and teach no classes their first year, and one per semester the next year. At Vanderbilt Creative Writing MFAs are paid $26,000 and teach only one class throughout their entire degree. At the University of Kansas, an MA student in Anthropology makes $17,000. At Texas Tech an MA in History makes up to $20,000 and an MA in Philosophy makes $18,000. This list could go on forever. All across the country, graduate students are choosing other schools because wages for GTAs at the University of Arkansas have not kept up.

If the U of A wishes to attract and continue to attract the best graduate students across disciplines, then compensation must drastically improve. At a time when the university claims to be seeking ways to diversify the student body and expand opportunities for students of color, raising graduate student wages is crucial. If the U of A isn’t paying anywhere near a living wage to the GTAs teaching a large part of its undergraduate curriculum, then the school is closing its doors to anyone who isn’t willing or able to go into massive debt. Because poverty already disproportionally affects people of color, the built-in financial barriers for GTAs directly contribute to the systemic racism present in this institution.

Though this letter has primarily addressed the situation for GTAs, we recognize that GAs and other graduate research assistants across campus are also struggling, and we hope to continue to work together to ensure that all working graduate students make a living wage.

In the context of all these conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased pressure on GTAs who, in many cases, have been laid off from second jobs and simultaneously forced to spend overtime hours redesigning classes for online learning environments.

The current arrangement is not sustainable for graduate students, or for the University. Therefore, we ask that the University take the following actions:

• Immediately set up a special fund to pay an emergency $2,500 stipend in the 2020/2021 academic year to all GTAs and GAs currently making less than $15,000. This will help GTAs and GAs in crisis as a result of lost work during the pandemic.
• Issue a plan to meet the following criteria by no later than the 2021/2022 academic year:
  • A $20,000 minimum graduate stipend for all GTAs
  • A waiver of all student fees for GTAs
  • 80% coverage of GTA health insurance premiums by the University
  • Coverage of GTA dental insurance premiums by the University

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Chancellor to discuss the University’s poor treatment of its GTAs. For many of us, the pandemic has made what was already a barely survivable situation much worse. We ask that the U of A address these concerns immediately.

Please sign this petition. If you are affiliated with the University of Arkansas (TA/GA/Faculty/Staff/Student/Etc.), please mention that in the comments, and share your story there as well.