What is the average amount of graduate student stipend?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I was surprised that the amounts are very different between schools. Recently, one our friend’s son had two offers for the Ph. D. program in Bio medical engineering. He got about $16 k/yr from UCSD and $30 k/yr from Rice. (+ free tuition at both places).</p>

2

<p>The amount also varies tremendously by subject. It is much harder to find a graduate student stipend in the humanities than in the sciences.</p>

3

<p>There are differences among departments, and also among individuals in the departments. It could be that your friend's son was one of the top candidates at Rice. Or, it could be that the UC department is taking more students and offering them less, spreading out the money. Each school and department has their own way of doing things.
Also, it may be deceiving just to look at the monetary totals unless you know if teaching or research duties are expected, and how much. Some departments fund for the first couple of years, and then pay for teaching.
Some may cover four years, others five. There is a range of stipends and responsibilities that go with them.</p>

4

<p>Some schools also offer their own competitive fellowship awards which carry better funding. Sometimes higher cost of living locations offer better stipends.</p>

<p>My S just received his first funding package (engineering, not biomed): 29K guaranteed for 3 years with funding thereafter "not a problem," full tuition/fees waiver, health insurance, RA (no teaching). He seemed to think it was a pretty good offer. HTH</p>

5

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<p>Wow, times have changed. Back when I was in the Ph.D. program (early 80s) I got no free tutition, but I did get an RA stipend of $4200/year -- and I thought I was rich.</p>

6

<p>UChicago has just announced that all Humanities and Social Science Ph.D. students will receive full tuition, health insurance, $19,000 per year for 5 years, and $3000 for two summers for research purposes.</p>

7

<p>
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My S just received his first funding package (engineering, not biomed): 29K guaranteed for 3 years with funding thereafter "not a problem," full tuition/fees waiver, health insurance, RA (no teaching). He seemed to think it was a pretty good offer.

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<p>That's a really good offer, better than someone I know doing a doctorate in engineering at MIT and with teaching responsibilities.</p>

8

<p>Well, goooollllyyy. And shazam. Color me stupid. I had no idea that grad students got any stipend with any sort of regularity. $16 to $30k? I knew about tuition waivers but cash? I had no idea and I'm sure my D doesn't. Thanks again, cc folks.</p>

9

<p>Well, it also makes a difference that Rice has a LOT more cash to throw at prospective stipend recipients than does UCSD, what with the former's high per-capita endowment and the UC system's funding problems.</p>

10

<p>This also could be an effort to entice more native kids to go for higher education.</p>

<p>Rice did receive lots of money for Bio-medical research and they have a very ambitious plan with the Texas medical center. They want to staff up and have the infrastucture real fast. 30 K is till cheaper than a full time employee.</p>

11

<p>There are huge variations between departments, schools and also within programs. Many departments will give anything from $30K +tuition down to $5K +tuition to tuition only to nothing. Some will even guarantee funding for several years. Others require you to teach or be an assistant after the first year. Need is never a factor. It is entirely about how badly the department wants you and how much dough they have to play with. Moreoever, some departments give little or no aid the first year but then give generous aid the 2nd and after to those who survive the weeding out process after the first year prelims or qualifiers.</p>

<p>Repeat after me: Grad (Phd) school is completely unlike undergrad.</p>

12

<p>the majority of clinical psych phd programs offer full tuition waivers, stipends ranging from 10K-30K, and health insurance policies. part of why they are so ridiculously competitive!</p>

13

<p>Combined MD/PhD programs frequently waive both med school and grad school tuitions, and provide stipends. Details vary, as there is the federally supported Medical Scientist Training Program, and schools may have their own programs. Caveat emptor - they are very selective, requiring demonstrated commitment to a research career, and they take 6-8 yrs (with residency and/or post-doc to follow).</p>

14

<p>My S recently received his first 2 acceptances to very competitive social science Ph.D programs. Both offer full tuition. One has offered a stipend of ~$13,000+ and the other has offered close to $20K plus health insurance. The first program has already come back to my son, unsolicited, to ask if he had any other offers and what they were, strongly suggesting that they would up their original offer. My understanding of the stipend process is that it is often tied in to the practical costs of housing in the area where the graduate school is located. Big city grad school? Higher stipend.</p>