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The article specifically calls out top tier schools, which pay more. You can also increase your stipend by TAing in the summer. Source: currently applying to g

The article specifically calls out top tier schools, which pay more. You can also increase your stipend by TAing in the summer. Source: currently applying to grad school Better source: https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/Campus-Advocacy/Stipend-Report-2018-2019.html https://www.cmu.edu/stugov/gsa/Campus-Advocacy/Stipend-Repor...

tsumnia 5y ago
"calls out top tier schools" Um, ok, ouch... jk :D There are ways to increase your pay and doing summer work is one of those. However, the student fees portion of my comment still rings true. You'll be spending about $4k on student fees, $500 on parking. Depending on your martial status, number of kids, type of apartment, you will still be barely scraping by. Source: All but dissertation
- rgrmrts 5y ago
  I apologize, I didn’t mean to make a value statement about whether or not what’s considered a “top tier school” means as much as some folks think it does. That said, schools with big names have bigger endowments and more connections etc so it makes sense. The author also specifically mentions applying to schools where you know faculty doing something that excites you and not going off rankings. This post is based on a Zoom call he conducted a month or so ago for folks and I signed up and attended. Otherwise, I totally agree with you. Stipends are very little money, especially if you’re supporting others.
  - skrishnamurthi 5y ago
    Endowments don't pay for PhD students. Students are largely paid out of grant funding.
ModernMech 5y ago
Wow: CMU SCS stipend is at $35k, and tuition is $45,700. That's $80,700 per year to support a PhD student before the markup.
- tsumnia 5y ago
  I would say the article's $300,000 model is realistic though. This has been a conversation I've had with my advisor a few times over the years. PhD students get paid a small amount but then there's all the Hollywood accounting that goes on in the back about where funds for their healthcare, taxes, tuition, etc come from.
- patrick451 5y ago
  Charging PhD students tuition after they are finished taking classes (which typically accounts for the majority of their years) is racket that allows the university to double dip into research grants. The first dip comes from 50% "overhead" they skim off every grant. Further, in my experience, few professors actually do any research nor write papers. The vast majority of this work is done by PhD students and to a lesser extent post docs. Thus, PhD students are the linchpin that holds the entire "do research to publish papers to write grants to do more research" cycle together. If all PhD went on strike, the research output of a university would dry to a trickle, which would make obtaining further grants difficult to impossible, thereby depriving the university of that luscious 50% overhead. Said another way, PhD student are net value producers for the university. Forcing PhD students to enroll in "thesis hours" that cost 45k per year is simply a cleverly worded scam to pilfer even more off the grants.
  - ModernMech 5y ago
    45k per year includes 6 classes or 18 credits per year. Candidacy maintenance would be 2 credits per year. It maintains your full time student status in the eyes of tax authorities and student loan servicers. I’d agree with everything else you said.

tsumnia 5y ago

"calls out top tier schools" Um, ok, ouch... jk :D There are ways to increase your pay and doing summer work is one of those. However, the student fees portion of my comment still rings true. You'll be spending about $4k on student fees, $500 on parking. Depending on your martial status, number of kids, type of apartment, you will still be barely scraping by. Source: All but dissertation

rgrmrts 5y ago
I apologize, I didn’t mean to make a value statement about whether or not what’s considered a “top tier school” means as much as some folks think it does. That said, schools with big names have bigger endowments and more connections etc so it makes sense. The author also specifically mentions applying to schools where you know faculty doing something that excites you and not going off rankings. This post is based on a Zoom call he conducted a month or so ago for folks and I signed up and attended. Otherwise, I totally agree with you. Stipends are very little money, especially if you’re supporting others.
- skrishnamurthi 5y ago
  Endowments don't pay for PhD students. Students are largely paid out of grant funding.

ModernMech 5y ago

Wow: CMU SCS stipend is at $35k, and tuition is $45,700. That's $80,700 per year to support a PhD student before the markup.

tsumnia 5y ago
I would say the article's $300,000 model is realistic though. This has been a conversation I've had with my advisor a few times over the years. PhD students get paid a small amount but then there's all the Hollywood accounting that goes on in the back about where funds for their healthcare, taxes, tuition, etc come from.
patrick451 5y ago
Charging PhD students tuition after they are finished taking classes (which typically accounts for the majority of their years) is racket that allows the university to double dip into research grants. The first dip comes from 50% "overhead" they skim off every grant. Further, in my experience, few professors actually do any research nor write papers. The vast majority of this work is done by PhD students and to a lesser extent post docs. Thus, PhD students are the linchpin that holds the entire "do research to publish papers to write grants to do more research" cycle together. If all PhD went on strike, the research output of a university would dry to a trickle, which would make obtaining further grants difficult to impossible, thereby depriving the university of that luscious 50% overhead. Said another way, PhD student are net value producers for the university. Forcing PhD students to enroll in "thesis hours" that cost 45k per year is simply a cleverly worded scam to pilfer even more off the grants.
- ModernMech 5y ago
  45k per year includes 6 classes or 18 credits per year. Candidacy maintenance would be 2 credits per year. It maintains your full time student status in the eyes of tax authorities and student loan servicers. I’d agree with everything else you said.