Funding for a PhD Stem program guaranteed for only the first year; should son be concerned?

Graduate School
1

Short question: Is it unusual to be offered guaranteed funding for the first year only of a PhD STEM program, and is there a possibility of insufficient funding for subsequent years? Also, how to suss this out, so as to decide whether to attend that program?

Detailed question: My son has been accepted to a PhD STEM program that he is quite interested in. That’s great, except – he is not really focused on the finances. So here I am, with questions. (I don’t want to be a helicopter mom, but I do want to offer him helpful advice. His father and I paid for his undergrad degree, so this is all new to him.)

The program is offering him a generous “full fellowship,” including tuition and fees, health and dental insurance, a transit pass, and a $31K stipend. That’s great, but there’s a catch: it is for the first year only. As to subsequent years, the letter says only: “Continued support will be provided by your dissertation advisor starting July 1, 2020 and is dependent upon satisfactory academic and research progress as defined by the Program and Graduate School.” I understand the part about funding being dependent upon academic and research progress – that makes sense, and I expect it is typical – but the rest of it – the “continued support” part – is one huge question mark to me.

My first question is whether this is typical. For whatever it’s worth, I note that the university is around the middle on this list of Top 50 NIH-Funded Institutions of 2018.*

I suggested that before making a final decision, our son should ask for clarification about the “continued support.” But I am not sure exactly what he should ask. Or what this even means, typically. Is there a chance that after the first year he might be responsible for a significant chunk of tuition or living expenses, or both? Is that a legitimate question to ask? I understand (I think) that it depends on the funding that his dissertation advisor has available, but is it okay to ask what the typical experience is for phd students in that program after the first year?

In short, how does one suss out how this will all play out, and whether there is a risk of having to drop out of the program for lack of sufficient financial funding after the first year?

Our son has zero savings, so this could be a deal breaker. (His father and I have some savings, but we have a daughter in college as well, and really, just not enough savings to fund several years of a phd program, not by a long shot.)

*https://www.genengnews.com/a-lists/top-50-nih-funded-institutions-of-2018/

2

Years ago, I was offered the reverse of this deal by a few major research U’s - pay your way the first year and if you pass the PhD comprehensive exams at the end of the first year you would get funding as a TA or RA for 3 or 4 more years.

It is appropriate to find out if there are critical exams at the end of the first year that determine whether someone is making good progress or not. Certainly the student could inquire with the Director of Grad studies about how often it is that someone loses their funding after year one. Also inquire among current students, if that is possible.

3

Hi–So most funding for Ph.D. programs are based on grants. Grants can last from a few years to many. Med Schools are grants factories and a lot of the employment there in research labs is soft-money funded. In other depts the grants augment existing positions at the institution, often.

The grants are pulled in by the mentor/ professor who has accepted your son, in all probability. Grants are really really hard to get. Institutions can take 70% of the grants as “overhead.”

Questions would got to the professor who got the grant. Your son would make the deal, if there is one to be made, with the professor. (How many years funded, what control will he have over the data, probability of publishing, etc.) In some institutions the professor has funding from the institution to take on a grad student–in programs that perform well, the institution has an incentive to provide extra funding at the Ph.D. level in order to attract students to the masters level, which is tuition paying. There is no set format. In fact one institution can vary year to year what funding is available and how much they have and what their strategy is. Professors often want grants so that they can do the research because that is what they love to do. Professors want grants to fund students in order to free the students so that they can learn while doing research, rather than having to work a side job. Institutions have different goals, often, becuase administrators are interested in maintaining the institution first and the research/professors etc second.

So my first question would be: 1) is this a grant that the professor brought in? If so how many years is this professor granted for? or 2) is this a grant from the institution. If so, how do these normally work? What is the probability of this funding being extended for the next 4-6 years he will need to finish? 3) is there other funding available, such as working in a lab? This might take the place of the funding should it dry up.

  1. as always–who is the mentor/ professor and how prolific is s/he? Can your son get the guidance he will need to 1) write papers, 2) publish papers under his own name (or as lead author); 3) get the mentorship he will need to get his academic career started – or some other career. Does the professor have a reputation of developing his/her students well? Not all professors are great even at top institututions. check the professors CV to see how active s/he is. That’s a big hint. Also check online to see what labs are active and who’s working in the labs. You can always contact those students to find out their experience.
4

@SodiumFree - I don’t think this is unusual. My son’s 2018 PhD offer letter from Michigan in engineering said:

“This support consists of full tuition, a 12-month stipend, and health insurance coverage. The funds
will come from a combination of Professor ___’s research grants and fellowships when applicable.
Financial support will continue until completion of your Ph.D., and is contingent upon successful
academic and research progress. Please see the attached “Offer of Financial Support for Graduate
Study” for a description of terms and conditions.”

The attachment clarified the award conditions::

"- You must enroll in a course schedule approved by your faculty advisor. All students are
expected to complete at least 18 hours during the first year of study.

  • You must be actively involved in research, under the direction of a program research advisor,
    and be making satisfactory progress.
  • You must maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA (on a 4.0 scale, A=4.0).
  • You must achieve all expected academic milestones (required examinations, achieving
    candidacy, etc.) within program deadlines.
  • You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional and ethical manner."

I read the language you quoted to mean the same thing, but your son should clarify the award conditions.

My son is currently considered to be a PhD pre-candidate. To become an actual PhD candidate, he has to get the required grades this year, get started on his research, and pass his oral exams. He did very well first semester and has got a good start on his research. He is not surprisingly stressed out about his upcoming oral exams in May, but almost all pre-candidates pass them (sometimes after two tries).

5

@SodiumFree ,
Relax. There is no reason to worry about funding at the university that has offered him a spot.
If the U that has offered your DS acceptance to a PhD program IS in the middle of that list, he WILL be funded, as long as he DOES pass his qualifying exams [ which are often very rigorous and are given at the end of the first year] and then afterwards does do research, [under a professor who will chose him at some point], at an acceptable pace. Students who do NOT pass their qualifying exams are asked to leave the program. I think that is the reason they talk about 1 year’s worth of support.

Graduate PhD students are supported by the University while they study for their qualifying exams, and if they pass, are then given continued financial support by the school and indirectly by the prof that chooses to support him for his research projects. PhD students are in many cases encouraged to apply for outside grants, from NSF and other US institutions that fund research in order to take some of the financial burden off of the professor.

The first year boilerplate language re funding is similar to most language found on University graduate school websites for PhD programs.

@Dustyfeathers
there is NO way a newly accepted PhD candidate would know which professor to contact, since that relationship has not been established.

6

This is pretty common for biomedical programs: the first year is guaranteed since that is when the student is taking courses and completing rotations in potential labs. The student joins a lab before the end of the first year, and after that the PI is responsible for funding the student. Of course, students are advised to rotate only in labs that have funded positions available. If the student cannot find a funded lab to join, then there is no guarantee of support past the first year. Even if the student joins a lab and is supported by the PI’s grant, if the student fails to maintain good academic standing or to make reasonable research progress, the financial support will not continue, but usually there will be a formal process that typically involves the student, PI, (pre-)thesis committee, graduate program director, and perhaps the graduate school, before the decision to separate the student and the PI is taken.

7

Almost certainly what is going on here - and it’s a common occurrence - is that your son is a strong candidate and so was offered a department- or college-level fellowship basically as a means to entice him into joining their program. Funding for such fellowships is generally quite limited, so it’s usually just meant as the carrot to dangle in front of strong students to get them to join up. Subsequent funding is to be provided either through other fellowships or, more commonly, through the research advisor and their grants that fund the research the student is performing.

The best way to remove the uncertainty here is for him to immediately start contacting faculty with whom he might want to work for his PhD. Generally speaking, if a student with a fellowship reaches out to a faculty member, it’s almost a guarantee they can get hired because they are free for the first year. It still doesn’t guarantee funding for the remaining years, but once your foot is in the door, professors generally do everything in their power to keep you funded as long as you aren’t incompetent. Let me tell you, that last part is the most stressful part of my job.

8

@SodiumFree - This is typical of an offer to a PhD program. Practically all schools make continued funding and stipends contingent upon maintaining satisfactory progress in the program. For PhDs this typically means passing the qualifying exam (the qualifying exam is a very rigorous exam, which is intended to test the gamut of knowledge gained in the undergraduate and possibly master’s training and the ability to apply that knowledge to solving any problem that would be expected of an undergraduate degree holder in the field), identifying a problem and research topic that has a unique aspect that has not been previously investigated (the purpose of a PhD is to train one to be capable of independent, original research, and the doctoral research must produce a significant and original contribution to the knowledge state of the art of the field), developing a satisfactory research program, obtaining satisfactory grades in the required pre-research coursework (in this case, a 3.5 GPA is required, which is typical), assembling the dissertation committee (usually the advisor and other faculty members familiar with the particular research topic), making satisfactory progress in the research (typically, a PhD candidate creates a comprehensive report on the research progress for his/her advisor and committee every semester), possibly authoring or co-authoring one or more articles in a peer-reviewed journal (which was required when I was in grad school - not all schools require a published article, some are satisfied with submitting the article), attending and/or presenting the research at academic or professional conferences, making acceptable dissertation progress, and finally, defending the dissertation successfully.

While the offer letter wording may imply that funding is only for one year, the reality is that it will be continued throughout the program as long as the student satisfies the requirements outlined in the offer of which the above are typical. Sometimes, funding is contingent upon the faculty advisor receiving grants, but in my experience nobody I know was denied funding to complete their PhD because the advisor lost a grant (it might be however in that case the student may have to change the topic to transfer to another faculty member’s research group - but that is relatively uncommon).

Best of luck to your student and congratulations!

9

4 years ago, my D was admitted to 5 top-10 universities in her field (CS). All offer letters from them contained similar verbiage.

In the last 4 years, she never had problem with funding.

@menloparkmom

“NO way” is too strong. In my D’s case, she personally knew the PI, having worked as a RA for 1.5 years under him when she was an undergrad.

10

Yes, anything can happen. However, most departments would try really hard for it not to happen. Unless they really don’t like you.

11

@menloparkmom Indeed that is not the case. In many programs the professor personally interviews and accepts the student – even over the phone by personal call.

And she should only “relax” once she understands the funding and not until then. It’s not at all clear that her son’s program will provide year after year of funding until they say so.

12

Umm, my D’s acceptance letter specified her PI…

13

I stand corrected.
My DS’s letter from Caltech didnt.

14

It’s not that unusual. Whether or not he should take the offer is a different question.

But in your case, I don’t think there’s a red flag here. What the department sounds like it means is that the first year is a ‘fellowship,’ which means he doesn’t have to do anything for the money - he gets it by virtue of being a student and attending classes. But during his first year, he will need to find an adviser whose lab he can join. After that, his adviser will cover the costs of his program, usually through a grant. This arrangement is VERY common; it’s just that lots of programs don’t expose it at the outset.

If the professors in this program are generally productive and well-funded, it’s not an issue. If this is a top program, the chances that he’s expected to be responsible for costs down the line are very, very slim. However, if he’s curious or unsure, he should just ask. He can reach out to the departmental secretary with this question, and they can refer him to the right person.

15

That is a pretty nice stipend. He might want to read up on the policies for the grad school and see if they have any criteria specific to keeping funding. My kid’s program has a GPA requirement for her masters classes to keep funding. But I agree with the other posters that this seems like pretty standard language.

16

Thank you all for your comments! I have learned a lot, and my concerns have been allayed. (Also, sorry for the delayed response. I have been traveling, and have gotten off-track.)