Updated Funding Packages

[Indecisive Poet]

I've updated the stipend information for Boston College (it has increased by a considerable amount since it was last updated for 2017) but I'm not sure how to calculate the new wage index. @Warelin?

Edited January 31, 2020 by Indecisive Poet

[Warelin]

3 hours ago, Indecisive Poet said:

I've updated the stipend information for Boston College (it has increased by a considerable amount since it was last updated for 2017) but I'm not sure how to calculate the new wage index. @Warelin?

Thanks for the updated info!

To calculate the Living Wage Index:

1. Visit https://livingwage.mit.edu/
2. Type in the name of the city
3. Look at the living wage under 0 children
4.  In the living wage box, type in the following: Your Stipend amount/ (Living Wage/*2080) - The 2080 is the number of hours you'd work if you had a full-time job. MIT updates their numbers every year or so.

[Indecisive Poet]

On 1/31/2020 at 7:22 AM, Warelin said:

Thanks for the updated info!

To calculate the Living Wage Index:

1. Visit https://livingwage.mit.edu/
2. Type in the name of the city
3. Look at the living wage under 0 children
4.  In the living wage box, type in the following: Your Stipend amount/ (Living Wage/*2080) - The 2080 is the number of hours you'd work if you had a full-time job. MIT updates their numbers every year or so.

Wonderful, thank you! BC's WI has been updated.

[solana]

Would anyone be interested in having a list like this for Canadian English/Comp Lit PhDs? I could definitely start one!

[Warelin]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:26 PM, solana said:

Would anyone be interested in having a list like this for Canadian English/Comp Lit PhDs? I could definitely start one!

There were Canadian Universities on the original list. I think someone deleted it because there was confusion on the stipend's overlap with the tuition payments. Feel free to re-add it.

[merry night wanderer]

Just a heads up that I adjusted Oregon's package with more information, especially since there was some confusion about it earlier in the year. It's definitely tight, but I think there was some confusion surrounding the way they've worded things, and the situation is better than people have assumed. 

Edited February 17, 2020 by merry night wanderer

[TurnLeft]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:26 PM, solana said:

Would anyone be interested in having a list like this for Canadian English/Comp Lit PhDs? I could definitely start one!

YES! 

[Warelin]

Due to someone deleting information, I had to roll the spreadsheet back to a version from a few days ago. Please do not delete information unless you're updating information for that school.

If you added information in the past day or two, please feel free to re-add your information.

[The Maritime Scholar]

@Warelin, thank you for this! This is exactly what I've been looking for!

[Mikha]

Princeton increasing their funding for grad students in the humanities to $38,000-$42,000. If you receive offers from multiple schools including Princeton, ask them to match. If you're currently a grad student, ask your department if they'll be offering a similar increase in order to stay competitive with new applicants.

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2022/01/25/princeton-will-significantly-increase-stipends-support-graduate-students

Edited January 25, 2022 by Mikha

[zetasp]

I'm not sure where else really to post this, but I wanted some help deciphering UC Santa Cruz's pay scale. I see what's listed on the funding form here, and I got an unofficial offer that similar, but then I looked at their pay scale on their website and I'm confused. Really, I just need someone who gets the money part to untangle it a bit, if possible. They list their teaching assistant salary as $46,493 and their teaching fellow as $54,509, which seems really high and is way higher than all of the other pay I've seen, but I don't see any other scales for TAs listed anywhere. Help?

https://apo.ucsc.edu/compensation/salary-scales/index.html

https://apo.ucsc.edu/docs/scales-crnt.pdf

[Regimentations]

41 minutes ago, zetasp said:

'm not sure where else really to post this, but I wanted some help deciphering UC Santa Cruz's pay scale. I see what's listed on the funding form here, and I got an unofficial offer that similar, but then I looked at their pay scale on their website and I'm confused. Really, I just need someone who gets the money part to untangle it a bit, if possible. They list their teaching assistant salary as $46,493 and their teaching fellow as $54,509, which seems really high and is way higher than all of the other pay I've seen, but I don't see any other scales for TAs listed anywhere. Help?

https://apo.ucsc.edu/compensation/salary-scales/index.html

https://apo.ucsc.edu/docs/scales-crnt.pdf

I think it's important to note that those are FTE/Full Time Equivalency. Grad students would never be considered FT. I believe most universities would consider grad students at either .25FTE or .5FTE. Using the two numbers you listed and dividing by half, you'd get $23,246.50 and $27,254.50. The number might even be further adjusted if their FTE is based on 12 months instead of the academic year.)

I imagine that the number is also lower than the above because UCSC has this on their website which sounds like one of their top rewards:

Chancellor’s Fellowships

A limited number of these fellowships are awarded to first-year graduate students in doctoral programs. These nine-month awards provided a stipend of $24,000 plus payment of all university fees. 

Best of luck!
 

[Scuttlefish]

Current TA at UC Santa Cruz chiming in - though they list the TA annual salary as $46,493, with a monthly take-home of of $2,582.83, my actual take-home pay after taxes and fees is closer to $2200/month. It should also be noted that UCSC operates on a nine month annual cycle, and funding during summers is not always guaranteed; this may be why the annual estimates seem high. It can be very difficult to live in Santa Cruz on a TA stipend due to the incredibly high cost of living here. Hope that helps!

[plantdaddy89]

Columbia's package has been updated as a result of the recent graduate student laborers strike. TA work beginning in your second year, 1-1 teaching load starting your third. $39,990 for those on 9-month appointments (total compensation includes a $6,000 summer stipend). We also have pretty good health insurance, and can opt-in to the dental insurance for a reasonable fee. Solidarity forever!