I don’t know much about the ins and outs of how funding flows in a graduate program, however I personally would not pursue graduate work at a university to be sufficiently funded to at least cover the costs, whether its as a TA, working in a lab, etc. My view of the situation is rather simplistic, but likely quite accurate - as a grad student you will be (or should be) doing work that is of real value to someone, that someone should provide money in exchange for that work.