Has the current economy changed the trend on funding PhDs?

[Shake]

Since hitting the refresh button on my incoming email won't produce any new results I will try to 'distract' my anxiety by checking your thoughts on the question of my subject title.

 

This is my second cycle and I am starting to struggle with the notion that what seemed to be the norm:  'No program will admit PhDs without funding offers',  has changed dramatically.

 

Last year I was admitted into the University of Washington's PhD program on X but with no funding whatsoever. I know that just being admitted is a great accomplishment but.... a pretty bittersweet one when there's no chance in hell to attend without any support.

This year I casted a wider net and applied to 12 programs. All after contacting POIs prior to applying and getting positive replies encourging me to apply. 

So far I have been admitted to 2 programs and still waiting to hear on all the other ones. Both admits come with no funding and in one it seems like no one is even willing to be my Chair (wtf??!!). These unis are Texas A&M and Michigan Tech and the programs are either in engineering or a STEM field.
 

Why would they bother to admit me if there's no funding package available?. In one interview they even asked 'Will you be able to attend if there is no funding?'. I said no (in a more elaborate and 'polite' way) and within a week I received the admission email. Are you just trying to REALLY torture me?.

I should also clear out that I am an international student which makes funding even more necessary.

So I am starting to feel like they are just admitting students and if they are wealthy, insane or desperate enough to attend and self fund... more money in their pocket.

 

I am obviously competitive enough to be admitted to decent unis (amazinig unis for me), maybe I am just not competitive enough to receive any funding?. Maybe this is in fact the case and no one should get discouraged by my personal situation.

 

Thoughts?......

Edited January 29, 2014 by Shake

[shortstack51]

It has changed. I work in the admin at my school and they have huge meetings dedicated to dealing with funding crises in the Arts & Sciences. Every school handles it differently. Some become insanely selective but offer funding, others aren't but offer only half of admitted students funding. The humanities are a bit different; they tend to receive funding more frequently, or at least we seem to in English (though it isn't as much of a guarantee as it once was depending on the school). But then we are competing with 80-100 people for the same spot at top schools. How rigorous are admissions in STEM? I'm also assuming challenging based on my experience in admin.

[McKenna]

Last year was really bad for funding.  Many students were admitted with assumed funding but then the sequester hit and the funding offers never materialized.  This year I think unis are better prepared to handle the situation.  Ours is accepting fewer students but trying to fund those that are acccepted.  But I have friends in other areas who say that offers are going out, most with no funding.  These are mostly STEM positions.

[phdapp]

In an interview yesterday with the department chair, I was told that PhD applications were down this year. He blamed the economy. He said this is a good thing for applicants though... less competition for the same funding.  Of course, this was one program at one school. He said he was able to admit 2 of 6 applicants to his sub-field... only 6 applicants is apparently quite low for them. The lack of jobs post-graduation in humanities he believed is leading to less applications to humanities PhDs.

[Shake]

Thank you for your replies.

That is interesting. I always thought there was more money in STEM fields than in the hummanities but apparently that is not the case.

It is also interesting to hear that (at least for one program, at one school) there might be less applicants this year. I was convinced that , precisely because of the economy, programs were flooded with applications. Once again, I stand corrected.

...maybe,  STEM programs tend to be the ones flooded with applications and hence,  more admits but with less funding.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Shake