3 ms·

And yet they're basically super cheap labor compared to their skills that will probably stay in the US afterwards.

foogazi 6y ago
How much do PhD students make ? are US citizens incentivized enough to go the PhD route vs a foreign student whose only path to the US is the PhD program?
- Nbox9 6y ago
  As a PhD student this is heavily dependent on what grants you can get. Glass door says the average student salary is $27k, so $5k less than median salary in the US and less than half of what a high school teacher makes. A PhD graduate makes, on average, ~$100K, which is within 10% of the average Software Engineer salary. There are a lot of incentives to become a phd for us citizens. You can be called doctor. You have some level of social prestige. You can specialize in something that really interests you. Some jobs that might be appealing require a PhD. The cash incentives aren’t there. There are faster paths for larger pots fo money. For perspective PhD students I recommend The PhD grind. If that doesn’t scare you away than maybe it’s the right path for you. Link to a discussion about the book. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4179982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4179982 Dump of links where I got my dollar figures from. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-phd-student-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,14.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-phd-student-salary-SRC... https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctorate_(PhD)/Salary https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctorate_(PhD)/... https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/high-school-teacher/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/high-school-teach...

How much do PhD students make ? are US citizens incentivized enough to go the PhD route vs a foreign student whose only path to the US is the PhD program?

Nbox9 6y ago
As a PhD student this is heavily dependent on what grants you can get. Glass door says the average student salary is $27k, so $5k less than median salary in the US and less than half of what a high school teacher makes. A PhD graduate makes, on average, ~$100K, which is within 10% of the average Software Engineer salary. There are a lot of incentives to become a phd for us citizens. You can be called doctor. You have some level of social prestige. You can specialize in something that really interests you. Some jobs that might be appealing require a PhD. The cash incentives aren’t there. There are faster paths for larger pots fo money. For perspective PhD students I recommend The PhD grind. If that doesn’t scare you away than maybe it’s the right path for you. Link to a discussion about the book. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4179982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4179982 Dump of links where I got my dollar figures from. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-phd-student-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,14.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-phd-student-salary-SRC... https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctorate_(PhD)/Salary https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Doctorate_(PhD)/... https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/high-school-teacher/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/high-school-teach...