Are you just saying/guessing this? I have a PhD in Classics, and although I did my graduate work 20 years ago, I'm still in contact with people in that field. The standard is that for a five year program, nearly everyone can expect (1) to be a TA for 1-3 years (and receive pay that way), (2) to receive a writing fellowship (often from your university) for 1-2 years (and thus be able to receive pay while focusing on a dissertation) or (3) to hit the jackpot and receive an external grant for 1-5 years which spares you from some of the teaching duties in (1). In addition to that, everyone (except non-US citizens) has his or her formal tuition waived by some bizarre sleight-of-hand that the university does with itself.
Let me stress that since Rariel brings it up below: nobody pays tuition (again, except non-US citizens).
People take out loans for extra money (the grants and TA stipends ranged in the 9,000-12,000 dollar range per year in my time, 1992-1997), but nobody pays their tuition. One standard joke was that we were so much better off than the professional students (Business, Med School, Law School) because they did pay tution. I never paid a dime in tuition and finished graduate school with nothing more than mild (< $3,000) credit card debt.
I have no reason to believe that this system has changed. Do you have any sources for your claim?
Let me stress that since Rariel brings it up below: nobody pays tuition (again, except non-US citizens).
People take out loans for extra money (the grants and TA stipends ranged in the 9,000-12,000 dollar range per year in my time, 1992-1997), but nobody pays their tuition. One standard joke was that we were so much better off than the professional students (Business, Med School, Law School) because they did pay tution. I never paid a dime in tuition and finished graduate school with nothing more than mild (< $3,000) credit card debt.
I have no reason to believe that this system has changed. Do you have any sources for your claim?