<p>I recently was accepted to an engineering MS/PhD program and received 1 year of funding along with it. Does anyone know how these programs work? Is it an option program which you first obtain a MS then are guaranteed a spot in their PhD program if you want to continue? The school requires that all PhD applicants coming from a bachelors degree have a masters. Also, since the school only offered 1 year of guaranteed funding, would this mean that I would have to be on my own the second year of my masters? thanks.</p>
<p>Generally, you come in as a graduate student, take 1.5-2 years of classes with some basic research, then take a qualification exam. If you fail, they send you on your way with an MS. If you pass, they give you an MS and move you up to being a doctoral student. Then you take more classes and get serious into research, after 1.5 - 2 more years, you take a comprehensive exam. If you fail, you’re out the door (sometimes with a complimentary degree, like an Engineer’s Degree). If you pass, you move to PhD candidacy. 2- 3 years later, you defend and get a doctorate.</p>
<p>With 1 year of guaranteed funding, you’re on your own to find funding in your second year. Start looking at faculty before you get there. Try to find a student that’s been there longer, and get the basics on the different research labs / groups / faculty. Then find a faculty that has similar interests as you and money for funding and start working in his/her lab by your second semester. That faculty should fund you for the next year as long as you do a good job.</p>
<p>This brings up an interesting question. So you say that after the first year, professors will be funding for me (in addition to any scholarships, grants that I win, etc). So there could be a chance that the funding that I get from the professor will be less than what I’m getting now? Similarly, for schools that offered me guaranteed funding for 4 years, are those not funded by professors? Not sure why the department can’t pick up the tab for me on this one.</p>
<p>Departments have money, and professors have money.</p>
<p>Departments award a few fellowships (full or partial) to attract more desirable candidates, or occasionally just to help people through the first year. They also hand out a ton of teaching assistantships - a major source of funding for grad students. All of this is based on funds they get from the university and donations.</p>
<p>Professors hand out research assistantships for their specific work, based on funding from outside sources. These are more desirable because your thesis is generally in the same area, allowing you to double-dip your research with your work.</p>
<p>So…</p>
<p>Your school is guaranteeing you funding for the first year - that probably means that if you do not secure an RA position, that they will find a TA spot for you before offering them to the general grad population. Some schools will do this for more than 1 year (I had an offer like that in 2006).</p>
<p>After that, you are in the career grad student position - most non-Fellowship funding is only ever guaranteed for a year at a time, so you may find yourself bouncing from RA to TA. In most schools TA’s are paid a fixed rate(s), but RA’s can be paid more if the prof has the money. At UT Austin in 2006 I was told TA pay was in the $16k range, but RA pay could be up to $31k. So maybe your first year you TA, your second and third year you get an RA, then your prof runs out of grant money and you dive onto a TA job (with a pay cut) to get through while he searches for more money. It happens all the time.</p>
<p>Just remember this - departments do not like to see people drop out for any reason - it hurts their stats. If you are in they will help you to find funding. Just be prepared to work for it.</p>
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<p>Yes. In the schools with which I’ve been involved, the professor will “buy” you from the department for a fixed rate that guarantees just a tuition waiver. Then the faculty pays you a stipend / travel expenses based on what he/she thinks is fair. Of course, if the professor pays too little, he risks losing you, so most faculty pay at some equilibrium rate. </p>
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<p>It’s an incentive mechanism. They’re incentivizing you to know faculty and get involved in research. </p>
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<p>What stats? The graduate rankings that most research schools use are based on prestige as ranked by peers. Peer rankings pretty much only depend on your faculty’s publications and the quality of candidates the schools sends onto the market.</p>
<p>In that case, there’s good incentive to kick people out.</p>
<p>Burdell and cosmicfish have given you some good info about how grad school funding works in general. What you need to do now is to call the school that accepted you and ask them specifically how it works at THAT PARTICULAR SCHOOL. Ask them some hard questions about what will happen when your guaranteed funding runs out, how many students end up unfunded for their second year, how many drop out, how easy is it to get a TA or RA, etc. You really want to know these things before you accept their offer.</p>
<p>And don’t forget to ask:</p>
<ol>
<li> Are fees waived in addition to tuition (up to $3000 at some schools)</li>
<li> Is health insurance included (up to $1000)</li>
<li> Are there travel funds (I spent $1000-$2000 per year going to conferences)</li>
</ol>