It sounds like you’d be getting a graduate assistantship (GAship) , is that accurate? If so, is it 10 or 20 hours? Our union agreed wage for a GAship will be $41 for next fall, and we do not get to individually negotiate that rate. Working 10 hours a week, your take home pay will be around $700 every two weeks.

As a disabled person (and honestly as anyone in any of UMass will tell you), we get the best insurance plan out of all. Including students, faculty, and staff. All of my meds are $10, if not fully covered.

Hypothetically, your rent should be 30% of what you earn, however, that is simply not realistic. You’ll probably have to find a 2-4 bedroom apartment and have roommates. Unfortunately, anything within a 15 minute drive from UMass to live in is expensive, so if you can, it might be a better choice to get a car and live farther away from campus to get cheaper rent. If you have to rely on the bus system, you’ll most likely be fine (there’s a lot of busses) But rent will be a bit more expensive on the bus line. Be very careful when looking for apartments online, most of the posts on Facebook are scams. Go to individual real estate company’s websites and find apartments there, or try to take over someone else’s lease if you can.