But Sergio González, co-president of the Teaching Assistants Association, said that even after the raise, pay for graduate assistants at UW-Madison will still lag the compensation for those at competing universities such as Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and California-Berkeley.

Because of increases in the cost of living, health care and student fees, the TAA estimated UW-Madison would have had to raise pay by nearly 14 percent in order to give graduate assistants a stipend with the same buying power as the one they had in 2002, González said.

“While a 2 percent raise is better than nothing … the wages that we’re at right now are nowhere near competitive with other universities,” González said.

Pay for graduate assistants varies by position, but once the raises are in effect will be based on a full-time rate that ranges from $31,297 per year for a standard teaching assistant or program assistant, to $44,162 annually for a research assistant working year-round.

González pointed out assistants only make a certain percentage of that income, however, based on their appointment at the university. UW-Madison currently limits graduate assistants to 75 percent of full-time, meaning the most they can make in a year ranges from $23,473 to $33,121.