Funding

[sociologyplease]

Does anyone have any idea what an "average" stipend is in Sociology? I feel like I know the high end of the spectrum (with Rice having an awesome stipend at around 27K) but I'm wondering what the average doctoral student is provided with. This would really help me evaluate my program.

Edited February 28, 2012 by sociologyplease

[Karlito]

Well first of all it all depends on the location right? Is your school in an expensive place?

Edited February 28, 2012 by Karlito

[jenjenjen]

27K is def a high one. I don't know what's 'average' but Washington offered me just under 14K, which is based on a unionized TA salary. Private schools will generally be higher than public (though you can help bump up your stipend with outside grants). And you of course need to take into cost of living, so a medium stipend at a rural school might be worth more than a larger one from an expensive city.

[FertMigMort]

27K is def a high one. I don't know what's 'average' but Washington offered me just under 14K, which is based on a unionized TA salary. Private schools will generally be higher than public (though you can help bump up your stipend with outside grants). And you of course need to take into cost of living, so a medium stipend at a rural school might be worth more than a larger one from an expensive city.

Jenjenjen, Washington is one of the lowest public school ones. I think only UTexas's is lower and Austin is much cheaper to live in. This is based on the offers I was made in 2008, one of which was from Washington.

ETA: I should add that this is among the top 30 schools or so. I don't know what the trends are outside of there.

Edited February 29, 2012 by FertMigMort

[jenjenjen]

Jenjenjen, Washington is one of the lowest public school ones. I think only UTexas's is lower and Austin is much cheaper to live in. This is based on the offers I was made in 2008, one of which was from Washington.

Sad... but good to know haha

[Darth.Vegan]

I think a good range is 12-17K public, and 17-32K private (very rare on the high end). However some schools offer more or less depending on whether or not TA/RA salary is included in stipend or not. Some schools are easily 30k plus for years with a TA/RA salary on top of a stipend.

[MashaMashaMasha]

If you're a subscriber to CHE, you can find good stats here: http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-Students-Pay/36366/

There have also been a few threads on this topic, but this one has a number of outside links as well as some estimates of typical funding packages:

It seems to me that funding varies widely based on a number of factors, including geography, the extent to which the institution relies on state money/the state money situation, and ranking/size of the program.

[princesspi]

I can tell you what has been offered to me.... (nothing super, crazy high like Rice)

Univ of Oregon is about 11K, Colorado State is about 12K (for MA) & 16K (for PhD), UNLV is about 10K (for MA) & 12K (for PhD), Kansas is about 13.5K

[sociology27]

How does the stipend get released. For instance, if I have a 20K stipend, does that normally come about 1600/month or 20K all at once, or 2 installments of 10?

[quantitative]

How does the stipend get released. For instance, if I have a 20K stipend, does that normally come about 1600/month or 20K all at once, or 2 installments of 10?

From what I've seen from my admittances, it's 12 installments [if it includes summers]. The average of my offers is probably around 20k per school for m.a./ph.d.

[FertMigMort]

How does the stipend get released. For instance, if I have a 20K stipend, does that normally come about 1600/month or 20K all at once, or 2 installments of 10?

Depends on how they fund summers. Our stipends are released in equal increments for 10 months and then summer funding is released over 2 months and is about $400 less than the stipend during the other 10 months. Fellowships are usually released in equal 12 month increments.

[ThisSlumgullionIsSoVapid]

How does the stipend get released. For instance, if I have a 20K stipend, does that normally come about 1600/month or 20K all at once, or 2 installments of 10?

I can only speak on behalf of my knowledge of the UC system but the UC's pay once a month.

[Karlito]

Big question for me: Are stipends taxed, and if so at what rate?

[FertMigMort]

Big question for me: Are stipends taxed, and if so at what rate?

Ours are. So are a lot of fellowships, but that varies.

[maximus82]

Stipends are taxed for most people as far as I know. How they are taxed depends on the nature of the stipend. for example, I know fellowships are taxed one way, and TA/RA stipends are usually taxed another way. either way, expect to be taxed as if you were at a job that pays the same amount of money.

[Mamba42]

Of the places I have been accepted, the only place that has resolved funding (so far as I know) is Utah. They offered me 13k for TA. I don't know about my other schools yet, but it seems like the Utah one is on par with the other public schools according to this thread?

[dizzid]

FSU offers $20k/yr but we go year round. Congruently, the program lasts four years instead of the traditional six...

[sociologyplease]

Thanks for your replies- super helpful. I'm getting an offer of around 20k, more if I get a fellowship. The cost of living seems to be a little bit higher than where I currently live, however.

[princesspi]

health insurance is also important

Some of the schools offer more in stipend, but their insurance doesn't include dental and eye care. Or they don't let you add your children or spouse to the health care.

What are benefits of joining a TAship with a union?