Do private schools give out bigger funding packages?

[achimneyswallow]

I am wondering if this is rumor.

I was told that private schools, say, those of Ivy Leagues, give out bigger funding packages to accepted students. On the other hand, if you get accepted with funding from public universities, they give you less in terms of money and shorter in terms of time. In public schools, you also need to work as a teaching or research assistant in order to waive tuition.

I thought working as a TA or RA is part of PhD training, and I certainly appreciate assitantship opportunities. However, is it really true that private schools give out 5-year fellowships, which means no need of work?

I am so not convinced, and need proof to believe it.

[engguy]

Depends. You have to be a bit more specific -- what field are you in, what's the standard deal in your field, what schools are you talking about?

Not all public universities are created equal. Same with privates. Privates are getting slammed right now by the stock market. Endowments are down = fellowships evaporating.

By and large I would guess that packages at privates tend to be higher, though it would strike me as a rare deal to have a 5-yr fellowship with no teaching duties attached -- again, this would also depend on the standard in your field. On the other hand, some higher-profile publics might offer something similar. You'd have to do the research to find out...

[rising_star]

There's an entire thread here where people post about their funding packages, including the discipline and whether the university is public/private. Why not look there and see if it answers your question?