Narrowly speaking, $100/hour is probably true. However my arrangement as a chemistry phd student at UCSD included the following conditions: To be eligible to e

Narrowly speaking, $100/hour is probably true. However my arrangement as a chemistry phd student at UCSD included the following conditions: To be eligible to earn $100/hour, you must be a grad student who: * only earns at that rate for 20 hours per week * is forbidden to work any other job for pay * pays $20k/year in "tuition" despite the fact that you don't take classes after the first year or two of your 5+ year program * also works at least 30 hours per week for $0/hour in your research lab (otherwise your advisor will drop you) So, when you include those conditions, the situation is really "work 50-80 hours per week for $30-35k/year in an expensive california city". Which people were fine to do until phd student stipends started falling behind the cost of living in these cities for the past 10 years.