It has been my dream for years to pursue a career in academia, but the old promise of teaching one’s way through graduate school to some day receive a PhD and land a tenured position seems to have almost disappeared.

Low wages, out-of-pocket medical expenses due to lack of adequate coverage, plus skyrocketing tuition costs force many graduate students further into debt. And when they do make it through with doctorates there are fewer and fewer tenured positions to fill because of the university’s reliance on exploited graduate labor. 

The state of higher education in this country is so dismal that graduate students and tenured professors alike have encouraged me to start exploring plans B and C. Though I want to believe that somewhere there is an opportunity for me in academia, if graduate working conditions do not improve here at Michigan State University, I will have to cross this school that I love off of my list of prospective schools to apply to. 

Despite graduating with honors and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, I might not be able to pursue my dream at MSU, which is a sad thought considering that I have been told incessantly over the last four years that I will, and can.

The exploitation of graduate students for cheap labor has become the norm at the public university, and while you all on the board are expressly committed to keeping Michigan State University competitive and exceptional, in this category we are certainly no exception.

Michigan State University could not even exist without its graduate students. Our graduate employees are the backbone of this great institution. The hard-working and capable graduate employees at MSU deserve to be fairly compensated for their work with full tuition waivers and competitive salaries, they deserve quality and affordable healthcare for themselves and their dependents, and they deserve an inclusive workplace free from harassment.

And for me, I am particularly grateful for the GEU because I hope to be a graduate student in the not-so-distant future. It has been my dream for years to pursue a career in academia. 

So if healthcare, inclusive working environment, a fair salary and a tuition waiver are not things MSU can guarantee then why should I, or any other prospective grad student, choose to complete our studies here as opposed to a university that actually WILL?

Alex Bissell is a recent MSU alumnus who is considering attending MSU for graduate school. 

Members of the GEU have been very vocal about their unhappiness with MSU's working conditions. Read more letters here and here.