What is your stipend and how do you make it work?

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

I'm generally curious about what the average stipend received is... Feel free to comment including your area of study, the reason for stipend (RA, TA, fellowship, etc.), how much you spend (on things like rent, food, etc.), how much you save, and/or region and cost of living.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Noco7

[Nerd_For_Life]

So after tuition comes out my stipend is in the $15-18k range, providing I am unsuccessful in securing external funding (in which case it would go up:). It's comprised of a TAship and various scholarships. How do I survive on it? I also work pt at a coffee shop while going to grad school 10 hours a week since it's the only way to make ends meet. Thankfully this upcoming year I will have a good chunk of savings and money left over from my MA SSHRC funding so I won't have to work in the coffee shop anymore! I will also continue to apply for external scholarship (even the small ones! It adds up!) and seek out RA work and TA work, maybe admin work or something, in other departments on campus to supplement if need be.

[icthere]

Maybe I'm not familiar with the general assumption...do you mean before or after tax? For me, it makes ~$4.5k difference and changes my answer.

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

I was thinking before before taxes, like what did the school quote you when you first heard word of your funding.

[tarrman]

I'm interested in hearing what the highest stipend possible is.

 

I think the avg. is around $2k/month in engineering, but many funding programs are different. TA's usually make much less than RA's, and some funding packages are for the 9 month school year, while others include summer offers.

[wanderingalbatross]

I definitely get a case of the jealousies when I see people's stipends that are triple mine.

[wabisabi]

I'm interested in hearing what the highest stipend possible is.

I was wondering about this too. I think I saw someone post like $32K somewhere here. There's also the possibility of stacking an outside fellowship, but policies seem to

 

I think the avg. is around $2k/month in engineering, but many funding programs are different. TA's usually make much less than RA's, and some funding packages are for the 9 month school year, while others include summer offers.

 

Sounds right. My offers so far have ranged from $25,500 to $28,800 per year. (The one on the high end has no TA requirement, but I think all the others require something.) At least two of my schools give students a "raise" of about $1,000/year after passing quals. If you subtract out fees and health insurance, the offers are between $24,600 and $25,800.

 

I answered the poll using the stipend amount from the school that I think I'll accept for my PhD. That being said, I'm in an MS program right now and get a $7,650-per-9-months RA, plus whatever TA's I manage to scrape up. My last TA was a class with 30-40 students and I got $1,900 for that. Right now I'm a grader for a 13-person class and will get $400 for the term (ugh). I make it work with extreme penny-pinching, late-night Mechanical Turk work, and an elaborately constructed series of new zero-interest credit cards among which I rotate my (fortunately minimal) debt.

Edited March 18, 2013 by wabisabi

[iowaguy]

Duke's 2013-2014 TA stipend for Arts & Sciences is $2,397.74/month.  9 months of TA is standard (if on departmental support) which equals $21,580 per year. If your POI has summer research support he/she can tack on another 3 months of RA at the same rate which then would equal $28,773 per year pre-tax.  Duke also pays for health insurance ($2,160) and fees ($866) on top of this stipend.

 

Cornell's published 9 month TA/RA stipend is $23,470.

http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/costs-and-funding/stipend-rates

Edited March 18, 2013 by iowaguy

[k3ithk]

My highest offer is $35k (12 mos) from UT Austin but and right now I'm on ~$26k (12 mos) at Emory University. My lowest offer has been $20k, but I am waiting on the University of Arizona funding which should come in pretty low as well as some decisions from other schools. I'll answer the poll using the school I'm leaning toward going to.

And to answer how I make it work. I mostly make my own food, that keeps food costs down. I have a roommate which helps keep rent down and that's about it. Cable is a luxury, but not necessary. I bought my car outright about a year back, so no payments except insurance on that (I don't drive much, so gas costs aren't an issue).

Edited March 18, 2013 by k3ithk

[tarrman]

I was wondering about this too. I think I saw someone post like $32K somewhere here. There's also the possibility of stacking an outside fellowship, but policies seem to

 

Both Princeton and UT are offering me $32k/year and $33k/yr, respectively. If I'm able to score NDSEG, Princeton will beef up NDSEG ($31k for first year) to what I would receive from the first year fellowship and then tack on another $4k, making a total of $36k/yr.

 

I'm not quite sure what would happen with UT's funding if I get NDSEG. I received a supplemental graduate fellowship valued at $9k/yr, but I'm not sure if I lose that if I get NDSEG. If I don't, that'll put me at over $42k/year ( absurd!!!), but I don't think they'll let me keep it.

[ANDS!]

Find roommates, plan your meals (and stick to them), utilize public transportation where available and try and get creative with entertainment.

[abeilles]

my offers have been between $17k and $28k. I think I can easily make it work in an area with a lower cost of living, but $17k here in Boston would be tough (thankfully, the programs I've been accepted to are in cheaper areas!)

[biotechie]

Right now, I'm in a rural area with fairly low cost of living... and make around 18k per year for my Masters. I still end up spending half my monthly income on housing per month, and then each semester an entire paycheck goes to the school for fees. A little rough, but doable.

The school I will go to this fall has a cost of living only slightly higher than here but a stipend of $29k. I will be spending about 1/3 of my monthly income on rent, and probably another $200 on utilities, etc. It will be much more affordable for me to live, but I will probably spend a lot more on gas and transportation.

[bedmas]

Mine will be about $13000/year after tuition (Masters' program), and I'll be moving out for the first time, to the most expensive city in Canada... we'll see how I manage 

[anthropologygeek]

My current funding is 14k for 9months with option to teach the summer that adds 4k to it.plus a renewable fellowship every year that adds 4k a semester so 26k a year plus free healthcare and dental.

[rising_star]

I feel like I make nothing at all compared to most of the people posting here. We make ~$15K/year after taxes and not counting any summer TA or research positions. It's fine. I, and most others, can afford to live alone, go out for drinks once a week, eat out once or twice a week, etc. I used to tutor part-time when I was still doing coursework but don't have the time anymore. So, I just make do with what I earn.

[RubyBright]

Wow! The schools I applied to don't exceed $13,000... before taxes.   Granted, you get tuition remission, but the numbers you all are quoting seem extravagant in comparison! 

[icthere]

At UCSD, most engineering PhD students (at least CSE and ECE departments that I know of) get around $1900/month after tax for RA and around $1700 /month for TA. 

[CarlieE]

I think it really depends on a lot of factors. We really can't be comparing stipends across fields, locations and needs. I mean, city vs country living make quite a difference, not only in how much stuff costs but the kinds of activities people prefer or can do in those respective locations. Also, it seems as though the discussion here is mainly around cost of living for single persons... It's quite different for grads with spouses and/or children ie. with rising costs of daycare and additional health insurance etc. And as someone mentioned above, it also matters if you have a 9 or 12 month stipend; and for how long is it guaranteed? Or must you reapply every year? Was your stipend negotiable at the start or was it a flat, non negotiable offer? In my case I get just under $22k which is great for my field, and its fixed for 4.5 years (but doesn't include field work) at 12 months. Everyone in our dept gets the same so there's no negotiating. I live with my partner so my rent and utilities are half what they might be on my own. That said, we still are on a tight budget and what extra money we have generally goes towards a nice night out for dinner and occasional movie. Date might for us typically means a cheap dinner out and a DVD rental! Of course, we do save up for nicer things for bigger occasions but its meager.

[TeaGirl]

I voted with the funding offer from the place I'm likely to go to. I must say the symmetry is interesting, maybe reflecting the funding in different fields? Competitive fields vs. not so competitive fields may result in either too little funding or a lot of funding to attract the too few students.

 

In most engineering fields I'd say you get around $2000/mo. before tax either over 9 or 12 months for TA/RA.

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

If the polls on here could be more in depth, I'd like to divide answers by region first (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West) and then by broad field of study (Humanities/Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences/Technology/Engineering)

[iowaguy]

And also by cost of living of that particular city...  $24k in Durham or Minneapolis is much different than $24k in S.F. or Boston.

[wabisabi]

If the polls on here could be more in depth, I'd like to divide answers by region first (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West) and then by broad field of study (Humanities/Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences/Technology/Engineering)

I don't know what this says about my mental state at the moment, but I would find that really interesting. 

 

And also by cost of living of that particular city...  $24k in Durham or Minneapolis is much different than $24k in S.F. or Boston.

I, um, have a spreadsheet comparing my stipend offers and have them adjusted using this. 

 

 

EDIT: I found data! (Comparison of stipends in different departments as reported by 42 universities. Would have liked to see some plots, though. Also, the cost of living thing is still an issue.)

Edited March 19, 2013 by wabisabi

[raneck]

29k base stipend, bumped to 34k by fellowship. CS field, living in Pittsburgh

[kabelo]

my best offer is 32k (28k base stipend, plus 4k bonus for bringing in external fellowship)