RA/TA stipend rise with inflation?

[iowaguy]

Does your RA or TA stipend rise each year with inflation? Or does it stay the same for the 5 years of your PhD studies? Trying to plan out my finances for the next half-decade...

[Duna]

If you are trying to plan YOUR finances you might want to consider asking YOUR desired programs about their funding structure

[iowaguy]

Hi Saviya, seemed like a sensitive/greedy question to ask my desired programs before I was admitted (I'm currently in the "waiting" stage). I figured it would be nice to know what other departments/universities do so that I can use that as bargaining leverage, if needed...

[lewin]

Mine has stayed the same, which is irritating because--inflation aside--tuition has increased five percent a year.

[MoJingly]

Mine increases ~$500-1K/yr

[comp12]

I'm at a high-ranked public. Mine rises approximately anywhere from 0 to 2 or 3 percent depending on the financial health of the state that year.

[Arcadian]

Mine went down a little from year 1 to year 2. Just a little - about $30.

[iowaguy]

For those that have a stipend that rises with inflation, was this explicit in your original offer from the university? Thanks!

[wreckofthehope]

For those that have a stipend that rises with inflation, was this explicit in your original offer from the university? Thanks!

Mine rises between $500 and $1000 a year. Although I was assured of five years funding and was told it would rise each year (not in writing), the formal practice of the university is to award funding each year. So, each year I get a letter saying "for the year 201x to 201x you have been awarded X amount of funding." So, no, at my school they don't formally give you a letter saying this is your funding package and it will get this much bigger each year.

Edited December 6, 2012 by wreckofthehope

[juilletmercredi]

When I was still on departmental/university funding it went up a little bit every year. This was not made explicit in the original offer. I am currently on an external award that does not rise.

Edited December 6, 2012 by juilletmercredi

[TakeruK]

It depends on the school, although none of my official offers mentioned anything about raises. However, at my MSc school, TAs were unionized so the Collective Agreement stipulates a ~1.5% raise each year in our TA funding (which is a few hundred dollars a year overall). Some schools are sneaky and they cut back other funding as they raise TA or RA funding though.

My current school just bumped everyone up $2000/year starting Fall 2012 (so the new students already started on the higher rate while older students just got a raise). According to the older students, this was not promised to them when they started, it just happened. I think schools generally avoid making monetary promises whenever possible.

Another school didn't mention this in the letter of offer but during the grad visit, the department said the policy was to give grad students a ~$3000 / year raise once they have finished their comps (and it also comes with a "promotion" from "Graduate Assistant" to "Graduate Associate"). Perhaps this is a reflection on the lower tuition costs that the department has to pay for you once you finished your courses!

A lot of my offers did guarantee that the stipend won't decrease though. But I don't think you should count on a stipend increase unless it is promised in writing to you personally (i.e. in a letter). Department policies can change from year to year!

[iowaguy]

This has been very helpful, I really appreciate the feedback!!!