[PhD Tuition]

Correction: less than 30 I meant to say <30

[PhD Tuition]

Greetings, everyone...

A thought suddenly occurred to me just now, as I was contemplating about the my options of attending further school and studies. My queries revolve around monetary issues. I would like to ask for feedback from both current and previous PhD candidates in various fields (just to compare).

Are/Were you required to pay for tuition when you did your PhD program(s)? My programme is associated with musicology, but I currently have a few friends who are doing post-graduate work in various fields (statistics, psychology, neuroscience, etc.). While they understood that it was competitive to earn a phd studentship (ie scholarship) in the UK, they were nevertheless concerned that I even had to pay for tuition at all. In fact, they stated that as a phd candidate, I should at least be paid extra (living expenses covered) to attend or be enrolled with an accompanying teaching job. Was that the case for most of you? Were you completely covered by the school while you did your PhD? In my case at the moment, it sounds like that a little over half of the tuition is covered for three years conditional upon a few T.A. jobs, but I also need to support a couple of grand on my own per year, including living expenses (I do not have the formal details as I am still waiting for the formal documents to arrive in the mail). In theory, I am fully funded if I am a "local student" in the UK, but as I am not, I need to pay an "international fee", of which the tuition is twice as much as that of a local student. Does it sound wrong to you to pay for a PhD programme at all, and would you recommend me not pursuing it if I had to, and rather, wait for a programme that offered a full-ride, which is what is usually supposed to be? My impression was that in Music it is different, as there is less funding for this field, but I could be wrong. I am also asking DMA Music students for their opinions, but I thought your input could be helpful, even from a different fields' viewpoint. Thanks a lot in advance for your help and I appreciate the feedback... please let me know what you think. Cheers!

It doesn't sound wrong to pay for a PhD, if you can afford it. As I was interacting with current PhD students and students in the process of applying for one my impression was that being offered AT LEAST full tuition through an assistantship is a major factor in deciding whether to attend a program or not. Most of these people were recent graduates or young professionals (>30 years) and did not want to go into debt for years and years to come for the privilege of going to school 4+ more years, especially with the economy these days. But if you can afford it, it's your goal, and think you will find professional and personal fulfillment through this, I don't see why you shouldn’t pay. By the way, why are you going to UK? Most US universities offer full tuition and stipends to their doctoral students, as far as I know.

[Indiana University (Bloomington)]

Hi everybody,

Glad to see so many people excited about their move to Blomington. I have made my final decision and I am also going there. Many of you consider Regency, and I have to say, the places are affordable and look nice from the distance – I have read though some very negative comments on forums about Fountain Park and now I am clueless about where I should look. I emailed a professor who said she will speak to current students about good accommodations.

Anyway, what I liked about many of the regency properties is that they have a washer and dryer in the apartment (mostly in the 2 bed. apt) and some even a balcony. This got me thinking that it would be great if I could find a student also looking for comfortable and affordable housing to share a 2 bedroom and 2 bath apt. It would cost about $400 for each of us, instead 5-600, and we would basically have the same space + washer and dryer in the apt. The problem is I know nobody in Bloomington – expect for the professors who interviewed me and one current doc student, but I wouldn’t want to hassle him with questions.

Is this a good idea? Anyone interested?

[Indiana University (Bloomington)]

Hi,

I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I am very much leaning towards Indiana University Bloomington. I will probably be moving at the end of July. What housing options are you considering?