Work as a TA only if you have additional outside sources of income. - Teaching Assistant UCLA Employee Review

3.0
Oct 1, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working in the setting of a top university provides great educational opportunities and an intellectually stimulating environment.

Cons

Unionized employees still lack many basic benefits, and TA salaries are not adequate to meet cost of living in Los Angeles. This is particularly true given the difficulty of transportation in Los Angles. It is virtually impossible to live in Los Angeles without a car, and the costs of owning and operating one exceed the very limited budget available via a TA salary.

Explore other reviews about UCLA

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefit, good pay, good location

Cons

bad work life balance, no promotion

2.0
May 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent benefits, but not really as great as everyone assumes. Some colleagues who really care and do great work. Impressive students.

Cons

Relatively poor pay and pay inequities. Extremely poor fiscal management - that CFO who was fired for outing it was spot on. Senior administrators and faculty are incentivized to spend a lot of money on things that serve few students and hoard resources to make themselves look good for performance reviews and tenure committees, but it means a lot of extra work gets dumped on a growing a number of mid-level administrators and support staff - who now face layoffs or added workloads. It's all strangling the university's ability to serve its students, but I know several faculty members simply don't care about students or teaching.

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