Grad School Expenses

<p>Hi,
How do most grad students afford to pay for their grad school expenses throughout their PhD career?
Do they use scholarships and loans?
What other methods of payment are available?
Thanks.</p>

<p>ysk1,
Many PhD students are funded by their programs. Their tuition is paid for by the program and they are also given a stipend for living expenses.
Also, please look at the thread at the top of the grad school forum started by molliebatmit called "Grad school 101." There is a paragraph about grad school funding.</p>

<p>momof3sons: Thanks for your post. I read that most PhD students are on fellowships, which pay for grad school expenses. But how difficult is it to get a fellowship? I've never heard of it before. Any tips on getting it?</p>

<p>ysk1,
I can only answer this question based on personal experience in my house, and that was with Ph.D programs in the social sciences. Excellent GPA from excellent undergrad school, coupled with excellent Letters of Recommendation from professors as well as well researched/well written statement of purpose = fellowship offers from excellent programs. I have been told that the indication of whether a program really wants you is if they have offered you a fellowship. I don't know how things work in the sciences.</p>

<p>ysk, you're in biology, aren't you?</p>

<p>Virtually all biology PhD students are supported by their programs -- it's not a merit award, just a standard package. The school pays your tuition and fees, and gives you a stipend. Most stipends in biology right now are between $23,000 and $28,000 per year.</p>

<p>ysk,</p>

<p>At the PhD level, there are assistantships and fellowships. </p>

<p>Assistantships are awarded by the department in which a student will be studying ,and are usually either "research assistantships," "teaching assistantships," or "graduate assistantships." </p>

<p>RAs usually carry full tuition remission as well as a stipend, and require, in return, serving as a research assistant to a professor in one's department. </p>

<p>TAs also usually carry full tuition remission and a stipend, and require, in return, serving as a teaching assistant in one's department. </p>

<p>GAs also usually carry full tuition remission and a stipend, and can require many different sorts of "service," generally with an inflexible expectation of a certain number of hours a week (often 20). Examples of graduate assistantships are: tutoring in the Writing Center, serving as a resident assistant in undergraduate campus housing, serving as a trainer in the Rec Center, working in the library in some specified capacity, etc. Students who do not receive departmental assistantships can (and do) often apply for GAs of various sorts, so they do not have to fund their own studies.</p>

<p>Fellowships are a cut above assistantships. Unlike assistantships, they are not awarded by the department, but by the university. Departments must nominate their strongest candidates. Fellowships always carry full tuition remission, and often require absolutely no service. Some require only one year of service out of the three to five years for which they are awarded. This service is usually performed as a teaching or research assistant. Because fellowships are university-wide awards, competition is stiffer. GREs are often a central factor in the fellowship committee's decision making, because there are few truly interdisciplinary measures by which to rank candidates.</p>

<p>I hope this helps.</p>

<p>And molliebatmit, if you'd like to add this to the Grad School 101 thread, please feel free to do so.</p>

<p>Professor X: Thank you for a great post. :)</p>

<p>molliebatmit: I changed my major slightly; now I'm in molecular biology and biochemistry (MBB) instead of biology. How much difference is there between a financial package provided by biology and that provided by MBB (or just biochemistry)?</p>

<p>When I say "biology", I am always thinking of molecular/cell biology, and am thinking tangentially of biochemistry, immunology, neurobiology, and genetics -- all of the stuff that would often be included in a "biosciences" program in a medical school. It is somewhat sloppy of me, but when people are evolution/ecology, they will usually say so.</p>

<p>The big distinction in program policies is between the molecular-type programs and the ecology-type programs. I am referring to molecular-type programs.</p>

<p>I do think ecology/evolution stipends are somewhat lower than molecular-type stipends -- molecular programs are heavily funded by the National Institutes of Health, and are able to use NIH money to fund PhD students.</p>

<p>EDIT: And ProfessorX, thank you, I will add that. :)</p>