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The differences between graduate student interns 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 $30,945 average annual salary of a graduate student internship.
The top three skills for a graduate student internship include patients, speech-language pathologist and data collection. The most important skills for a graduate student assistant are cell culture, R, and chemistry.
| Graduate Student Internship | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $30,945 | $37,164 |
| Hourly rate | $14.88 | $17.87 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 56,982 | 20,764 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Graduate interns work in different industries, and their job responsibilities may vary. As a graduate student intern, you may be expected to offer your services free of charge to the company you find placement in exchange for the experience you'll be getting. In other cases, you may be offered compensation of some sort. Most often than not, you will be assigned to a department to work under the supervision of the head of that unit.
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 student interns and graduate student assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Graduate Student Internship | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Average salary | $30,945 | $37,164 |
| Salary range | Between $18,000 And $50,000 | Between $21,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Berkeley, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Los Alamos National Security LLC |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a graduate student internship and a graduate student assistant in terms of educational background:
| Graduate Student Internship | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Biology |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between graduate student interns' and graduate student assistants' demographics:
| Graduate Student Internship | Graduate Student Assistant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 25.8% Female, 74.2% | Male, 49.9% Female, 50.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 5.7% White, 57.9% 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% |