Multiple friends doing their PhDs in engineering and physical sciences told me that they negotiated their stipend before accepting an offer. I had not heard of such a practice in political science --anyone have ideas about that?
I never claimed that a 20k stipend was high. I said it could be considered high depending on where the program is located. In some places, living on 20k without roommates is doable. In other places, you'll need a roommate or two and/or a long commute to make it work. The living wage calculator also includes higher medical costs (which most universities provide within their funding package at a much-reduced cost) as well as taxes which are higher than the stipend would require. As a general rule