In science and engineering they normally won’t even accept students if the department does not have the money to pay tuition and a stipend. One of the schools I applied to did not have the money, the others did. So I went where they had the money to pay me.
Exactly.
At some point in the process you become the valuable commodity, not the degree. And if that isn’t the direction things are going, then something is very wrong and you need to figure out what that is or change direction.
Same with one of my kids, who got tuition plus stipend in exchange for working on research and teaching undergrads.
We should abolish student loans for grad degrees. If you are not good enough that the school wants to pay you to come, then you are unlikely to be in demand once you finish the degree.