I seriously can't believe its expected that students will just give free labor for this stuff. They're paying tens of thousands a year for the privilege already putting in many hours of work, and are also expected to work for free for 'experience' in hopes of getting a job?

If someone gave me the opportunity for hands-on wet lab experience that I wouldn't get anywhere else plus the opportunity to be published in an academic journal then I would do it in a heartbeat, money or not. It's not fair to generalize, every lab is different and every student has different views on what is and what isn't worth their time. I wish I could offer money, but it isn't my choice. My lab is small and our grant is ending by 2021, I am simply looking for someone to come in a few hours a week to assist me in gathering data for my paper.