MadSutherland

My (top-tier) university's administrators are trying to address "pain points" in graduate student compensation, namely the departments on 9-month stipends and the high costs faced by students with families, by having a financial aid program grad students can *apply* to, performing their poverty on forms administered by the undergrad financial aid bureaucracy. From my considerable personal experience, and national studies, undergrad financial aid programs exclude/leave behind many people, and are a nightmare to navigate, so I'm arguing strongly against putting the same kind of bureaucracy in charge of whether PhD students can afford their rent. (Rather, I argue, we should make all stipends 12 months and offer a childcare subsidy on par with our peers). I'm wondering: do any other universities do an "hardship grant"-style financial aid application for their PhD students?