Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between graduate assistants and graduate student assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a graduate student assistant has an average salary of $37,164, which is higher than the $31,704 average annual salary of a graduate assistant.
The top three skills for a graduate assistant include computer lab, undergraduate courses and research projects. The most important skills for a graduate student assistant are cell culture, R, and chemistry.
| Graduate Assistant | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,704 | $37,164 |
| Hourly rate | $15.24 | $17.87 |
| Growth rate | 20% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 3,026 | 20,764 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Graduate assistants are graduate or postgraduate students in a university who work part-time for a researcher, professor, or department in the university. They do a variety of tasks that would help expose them more to the field they are doing their studies in. Graduate assistants help researchers by conducting interviews, testing research tools, encoding and analyzing data, creating presentation materials, and managing the research schedule. They help professors in preparing for lessons, creating and updating presentation materials, and even trying their hand in teaching the professor's students. They help university departments in administrative, clerical, research, and any other task that may be needed.
Graduate student assistants are graduate students who are employed as support personnel in universities. They assist professors as teaching assistants, research assistants, or aides, depending on their assigned instructions. Their duties include assisting professors in administrative tasks, organizing undergraduate events, and conducting research as well as analyzing data. During the assistantship period, instead of wages, they are given a stipend as compensation to the service provided. This graduate assistantship gives graduate students relevant experience and more employment options in the future.
Graduate assistants and graduate student assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Graduate Assistant | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,704 | $37,164 |
| Salary range | Between $11,000 And $85,000 | Between $21,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Berkeley, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | Sotheby's Institute of Art | Los Alamos National Security LLC |
| Best paying industry | Education | Education |
There are a few differences between a graduate assistant and a graduate student assistant in terms of educational background:
| Graduate Assistant | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Biology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between graduate assistants' and graduate student assistants' demographics:
| Graduate Assistant | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.9% Female, 57.1% | Male, 49.9% Female, 50.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 11.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 11.9% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |