ChemiDude

Usually the rule of thumb is 30% of your income should go towards rent and utilities. So, 30% of 28,000 is $8400. If you pay rent for only 9 months, then that is $933 per month (and this needs to include all utilities). 30% is an arbitrary number, but even if you go up to 40%, that is only around $1200. To me, this says that if you have a stipend around $28k, you will want to be spending 900-1200 on rent. 1500-1700 sounds very high for your stipend rate. Have you considered sharing a 2 or 4 bedroom place with roommates? Or living in a less expensive neighbourhood?
Also, 9 month leases are more difficult to find and you will have the stress of having to find a new lease every single year. Sometimes landlords set higher rent rates for a 9 month lease so you might not save as much money as you might think with a shorter lease. But this is up to you

Since you pay rent for 12 months of the year even if you get a stipend only for 8, rent would be $1700*12=$20,400 or $1500*12=$18000. Maybe you could sublet your place in the summer, but that's a dangerous assumption to base your budget on -- what if you can't find someone for some/all of that time, especially since I'll assume you'll need to live in a less than perfect location and apartment to save costs. So, you're spending here way more on rent than you should given your income. There will be other expenses -- bills, transportation, groceries, books, clothes, the occasional unplanned expense, medical, state and federal taxes. I would say you should probably find a cheaper accommodations option. But overall, $28000 is probably livable, though you won't feel rich. You can check out the City Guide DC post for more information on the city: