Assistantships offer an excellent opportunity to pursue graduate study at little or no financial cost to the student. However, no financial cost does not mean no cost. Students who receive an assistantship are generally getting tuition remission and a modest stipend in exchange for 1/2 time work, and they usually need to be fulltime students to receive an assistantship. So, right off the bat, graduate students assistants (GSAs) have opted for 150% time commitment in order to not have to pay for grad school. That usually translates to a prolonged period of being overworked and underpaid, which is not exactly the ideal circumstances for concentrating on challenging studies or being highly creative.