Breaking: Sources say programs scaling down this year

[technocat]

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[t_ruth]

I am so jealous of all you political science people - your threads are always jumpin'

[CAPoliSciPhD]

bc we're awesome...

or asbolutely neurotic and we all have ocd...

but you're always welcome to join our threads!!!

[plisar]

bc we're awesome...

or asbolutely neurotic and we all have ocd...

but you're always welcome to join our threads!!!

Unless you're mean, in which case you can stay out

[sam123]

bc we're awesome...

or asbolutely neurotic and we all have ocd...

but you're always welcome to join our threads!!!

i concur.

[t_ruth]

thanks for the invite. I've been lurking but don't really have much to add.

[rising_star]

Not all graduate assistants are offered tuition waivers or insurance benefits and given the prevalence of hiring freezes, can universities really add adjuncts?

Also, as long as the department plans to admit anyone, they can't cut any graduate courses. I don't know how your program works, but in mine, your first year is spoken for with required courses that everyone takes. The only split in the cohort is for core seminars, which students don't officially choose until just before the semester begins. So it wouldn't matter how many students enroll, as long as there is at least 1.

Sorry, I should've specified that I meant funded graduate students, all of whom have the title "graduate assistant" at my university. They are obligated by some legislation apparently to provide and cover health insurance and at least 80% of the in-state portion of tuition (and I believe all of out-of-state tuition*)for all graduate assistants (and graduate associates, which means you're ABD and working for them as a TA/RA). So while the program could pay less (it'd have to stay above the university-wide minimum), they'd still be on the hook for the tuition and health insurance. To offset that, we'd have to actually pay them. Seriously. Out of state tuition is about $26K. Our health insurance benefit costs the University something like $3K per student (the premium, if we paid it, would be on the order of $1400/year), from what I hear. And yes, they can add adjuncts during hiring freezes.

I'm not in poli sci but my program has only 2 core courses (one fall, one spring) so, theoretically, they could teach those only every other year and all the MA and PhD students would still take them.

At my MA institution, there was a cutback in graduate course offerings for several years. It came about because during the 01-03 fiscal years, the state cut their budget, froze hiring, etc. At the same time, some faculty members left for other institutions. As a result of the hiring freeze, those positions couldn't be filled by TT faculty. Since the Grad School's rules prohibit non-TT faculty from teaching graduate seminars, there were some co-convened (grad/undergrad) courses offered but not as many grad seminars. The result was that sometime students had trouble finding actual graduate seminars to register for.

Another example, my current PhD program had 3 of its faculty on sabbatical in the fall. This spring there are 3 more graduate seminars offered than there were in the fall. Lots of people are taking their required methods class now (even some who did their MA research already and are currently writing) because it hasn't been offered since they enrolled in Fall 07...

==============

* I think the out-of-state tuition thing comes up because, unless you quit school and work for a year, you can never gain in-state status for tuition purposes here.

[fenderpete]

Do you guys think it's going to hurt my chances as an international applicant?

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Sorry, I should've specified that I meant funded graduate students, all of whom have the title "graduate assistant" at my university. They are obligated by some legislation apparently to provide and cover health insurance and at least 80% of the in-state portion of tuition (and I believe all of out-of-state tuition*)for all graduate assistants (and graduate associates, which means you're ABD and working for them as a TA/RA). So while the program could pay less (it'd have to stay above the university-wide minimum), they'd still be on the hook for the tuition and health insurance. To offset that, we'd have to actually pay them. Seriously. Out of state tuition is about $26K. Our health insurance benefit costs the University something like $3K per student (the premium, if we paid it, would be on the order of $1400/year), from what I hear. And yes, they can add adjuncts during hiring freezes.

Yeah, the GA's here aren't unionized... yet (we're working on that). They don't give us health insurance and the pay in some programs is nowhere near what it costs to live here, in a relatively inexpensive city/town.

In retrospect, of course they can cut graduate courses. I was just constrained by thinking of how my current and MA programs have been structured.

[polisciphd]

I can add to this discussion, my university, and most of those in the big ten, esp. those in wisconsin, illinois, and michigan, are facing serious budget shortfalls. My Dept. is not admitting as many applicants next year, and those that are admitted will not receive any funding in the form of fellowships. Instead, admitted students will have to pick up an additional TA section their first year to make up the difference in what they would have received in the form of fellowship money.

Also, my dept. does not admit anyone without some sort of funding package, which in the past has been a combination of RA/TA positions and fellowship money. I have been told that this is the same at all of the big ten schools.

[Luckige]

At least we have a scapegoat if we fail!

I am scared in a way I did not forecast.

[convex]

I have a feeling that these anonymous claims on the rumor board are at least exaggerated.

This St. Louis Dispatch article explains why:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

particularly this passage:

That's because the endowment losses, they say, will not have a big impact on budgets this year or next. And, many officials add, students can rest easy for now about scholarships and financial aid.

Endowment funds make up a small part of the overall budgets at most local universities. And the schools tend to be conservative when dipping into their endowments, spending just 4 to 5 percent of the funds every year.

On top of that, many schools base their spending rates on a multiple-year average of the market's performance. That way, they can moderate swings during bear and bull markets.

"We look at the trailing five-year average so the spending is smooth," said Mark Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University. "It doesn't go up and down. It's a conservative approach in part because we want that stability."

While it's possible that this is WashU specific, my gut tells me that other school administrators have similar foresight.

[rising_star]

convex, that only applies to schools with a large endowment. For public universities, slashes in state funding are *very* detrimental (unless you're the UT system with it's fat endowment). My university is facing a $100 million cut to what's left of this year's budget. They're talking about cutting out some graduate programs that aren't "productive". So, sorry to say it, but I'm not exaggerating things. The grad students here are launching a letter writing campaign to literally save our jobs, departments, and programs.

And, btw, there are plenty of wealthy Ivies that used to have $10B+ endowments that are cutting back on their spending. They aren't cutting financial aid and/or fellowships yet, but they are freezing hiring, stopping or not starting construction, etc. And again, that's not an exaggeration but an email I was forwarded.

[AllFiredUp]

ASU cut 200 staff and faculty are next on the chop block. Be chary of accepting offers from any UC school. Furloughs and possibly layoffs are being looked at there as well.

[gradster]

"While it's possible that this is WashU specific, my gut tells me that other school administrators have similar foresight."

The problem is that all universities manage their budgets differently, so it's hard to tell. What you can see is the schools that have already implemented hiring freezes. If they have stopped departments from hiring faculty, you can bet they are looking for ways to cut spending, and reducing number of entering funded students is one way. At my school, in a meeting with the graduate school we were told that some departments will forego bringing in students or reduce the entering cohort size this year so they can keep funding their current students. So it not only varies by school but even within schools (some departments will cut cohorts some a little, some a lot, some none at all). Hopefully you applied broadly and that will increase your chances of getting in even if some schools you applied to are bringing in smaller classes.

Last thing, even if the poliscirumors posts seem exaggerated, the info is coming from faculty and graduate students in political departments and there is not much reason to believe they are lying to you about their plans for entering class. Some departments may very well be cutting their classes by 60%. However, you are not likely to have many postings from departments where the entering class will be the same. So the scary posts, while possibly true, are not a representative sample.

[AllFiredUp]

Hey Gradster, I espy that you are at Columbia. When are their (Poli Sci) decisions expected out (if you know)?

[gradster]

Hey Gradster, I espy that you are at Columbia. When are their (Poli Sci) decisions expected out (if you know)?

Probably late February as usual. If I hear otherwise I'll post it on the blog. Good luck!

[convex]

What blog?

[gradster]

this one!

[acemoglu]

Just to add my voice: in my dept at a wealthy private university, there will definitely be less offers this season. New admissions and summer funding are the first things to go.

[StudyMom]

I'm in a different field -- communications -- but our college within the university will not be offering RA positions next year at all. TA's are being kept for those with current funding and it does not look like there will be funding for many new students next year. I was told "we have enough to maintain those already here". On the other hand, a couple of people who were not offered TA's went to professors who teach very large undergraduate courses and asked if they needed another TA. Since those courses use 7 or so TA's each semester, both of these people obtained a TA position. So, just because you are not offered guaranteed funding does not necessarily mean that you cannot do some legwork yourself to get a TA position. Also, after the first semester someone dropped out and an un-funded student got that spot. There are options! Good luck all. I am glad I did this last year!

StudyMom

[natofone]

This is definitely, without a doubt, the worst year to be applying to graduate school.

[APDemon]

Which is why we might as well considering starting our own. We probably don't have too much in common (theory, politics, method), so it wouldn't be a school of thought--so to speak...but we could bill it as the alternative to NSSR...the real university in exile.

[acemoglu]

I have a feeling that these anonymous claims on the rumor board are at least exaggerated.

This St. Louis Dispatch article explains why:

Two issues here.

1. "They" say. Of course administrators are not gonna tell the press that they are slashing budgets. I read that WashU lost about 1/4 of of its endowment, not an atypical performance: do the math.

2. "students can rest easy". Indeed, us PhD students can (mostly) rest easy as our funding will continue, although some perks are being cut. For those of you who are applicants, and not students, the situation is bleaker.

[convex]

The article doesnt' deny that they lost 1/4 of their endowment, it just says they spread out spending over several years so that spending cuts are minimal. This is probably true, since they're hiring.