<p>All universities have been hurt by economic downturn, but public universities in particular have taken huge hits. Look for programs that are well-funded from outside sources or which are the jewels of the university’s reputation; these are unlikely to feel the pinch as much as less influential programs. When you research programs, look at the faculty pages of PI you might work with. Do they list recent or active grants? Are their colleagues also well-funded? Use this metric for both private and public universities.</p>
<p>It is true that many graduate programs, both well-funded and not, cut the number of supported students last year, making admissions more competitive. When you add a hefty percentage of students choosing to go to grad school sooner rather than later, to avoid a dismal job market, then it got even tighter. That said, people still were accepted and still received full funding for PhD programs. Just because things have gotten more competitive, it doesn’t mean that admission to such programs is impossible.</p>