<p>What can it be used for? Or does the definition vary?</p>
<p>The term “stipend” is usually used to refer to a set payment amount given. Unlike a grant, it often has work and duty stipulations. Unlike a salary or wage, it does not is not paid based strictly on hours worked. It is often a part of graduate students’s packages. They get a stipend and in return there is a description of what they have to do, including teaching, work, study, etc. The definiton can vary, as it can with most anything, but that is what it usually means, and it can be used for just about anything the way I’ve seen it.</p>
<p>My one son got what was called a “stipend” just being a teaching assistant at the local pool. He was too young to be an official lifeguard,but completed a course that went through all but the actual RED Cross certification. He assisted the swim instructors and unlike them, he got a stipend which worked out to less than minimum wage in total hours worked, but he didn’t have to work all of the shifts to get paid like the actual pool employees did. He got a lump sum figure at the end of the summer for completing the course and doing what he was supposed to do as opposed to a pay check that his brothers got for hours actually worked each week </p>
<p>But in academia, the term is most frequently used for when referring to money a school puts into a grad student’s aid package. They get a living “stipend” is what it is called, and return, they have to help out the department, professor as needed. That often means teaching some courses or, more often running recitation sessions, being there to help out students who have questions, proctoring exams, grading exams and doing all sorts of things like that. The stipend usually is what goes towards the grad students’ living expenses.</p>