My fellowship email said 34k/yr plus 10k in tuition. This was for UT.

In terms of expenses? Maybe about 2k/month. Depending on what standard of living you want 600-1400 for rent.

Separately, I was also a TA. This ıs ın the ballpark of 25/hour wıth a 80% tuıtıon rebate. Beıng an undergrad TA only paıd 10/hr wıth no rebate though.

[1] “ monthly fellowship stipend ($2,222) paid to you for nine months during fall and spring ($20,000 value) · full tuition paid for classes required for your degree for the fall and spring semesters ($10,554 value) · two payments to you in the amount equal to the premium for student health insurance ($4,000 current value) · plus, an additional $9,000 engineering fellowship, renewable for three additional years ($36,000 total value)”

Some universities are already accepting more students than they can afford. When I was a fully funded grad student at Georgia Tech, I earned a $2.4k/mo stipend but had to pay surprise "student fees" to the tune of $1.5k/semester, including the summer term. That's a big deal when rent is $1000+/mo. I've heard many public universities, such as Berkeley, also do the same. I imagine the GT graduate students will unionize within a few years if they haven't already.

> My room was $10/month and I lived on hamburger/rice/green peas as a daily mono diet. I was happy as a clam... I have no idea what these rates are now.

$10 adjusted for inflation is $91.52, I’m guessing a room goes for more than that these days :)

Yes, Real estate has nimbyed up all over