Is funding situation that difficult for PhD in School of Public Health?

[Joan_bunny]

Hey, I decided to start this threat because I was really frustrated about funding...

 

I got into two PhD program in Epi so far, but none of them has secured funding to support my study. I was wondering is this normal? Or it's just me... and my school choices. I do know that some school will have full funding for every admitted doctoral student (like Brown...) How about you guys? Did everyone find funding source? And how to ask for financial aids from your school?

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[juilletmercredi]

It just depends on the school and program.  Some schools do fund all PhD students, and others don't.  I'm pretty sure that at my current SPH most epi PhD students are funded on training grants, but in my own department funding is a bit...spotty.

 

I would talk to someone - departmental secretary or director of graduate studies - and ask whether there is funding that is available for PhD students, and how often students get funding for the program.  But I definitely wouldn't attend if there's no way to secure full funding.

[weiwentg]

I am not in Epi, so I am not sure how well my comments generalize to Epi.

 

I have some offers in health services/policy with guaranteed funding. I have one without guaranteed funding, but in practice, everyone there has got funding, as the professors are quite active in grant writing. The latter school did indicate to me that rely on NIH funding, and thanks to austerity mania, NIH funding is getting squeezed (to the great detriment of America imo).

 

I think the Ivies will be able to guarantee better funding - they are more competitive for the remaining grants and they have endowments. (This may or may not translate to willing, although as someone indicated, Brown is definitely willing.) The top tier non-Ivy research universities are also very competitive on grants, but they may have less money behind the program. I see you're waitlisted on UW; like I said, I am not in Epi, but I believe that the program will be able to scrounge out some sort of funding. UW is a younger program, so they don't have as much endowment money, whereas UMN has some fellowships available that are not from AHRQ funds.

 

In my area, most programs get AHRQ training grants. They will provide tuition waivers and a stipend for a number of students (e.g. UW health policy has 3 slots). Others may be covered by other funds or by research assistantships linked to current faculty grants.

 

I'd recommend that you ask the program administrators how many students have got grants, and whether ANYONE has had to pay their own way at ANY point in the program. The previous poster alluded to this already. For example, not all the Epi students at Hopkins are funded, as I have been told (by a relative who attends). (This is doubly insane because the university should be more than able to get sufficient grant funding.)

 

I agree with the other poster: if you cannot get full funding, do not attend. You will come away with six figure debt and a mid 5 figure salary (if you go into academia).

[sharonnyc]

Honestly, I think the situation is pretty bad for epidemiology.  By talking to other students at the programs I applied to I was able to determine that many students at the programs I was accepted to were relying at least partially on loans; it seems that environmental, health policy, and biostats students are better off in terms of opportunities for funding.  I know everyone says if you don't get funded, don't go... but I don't know how realistic this advice is for epidemiology.  It seems that some people might need to at least take out some loans.  I would agree that committing yourself to hundreds of thousands in debt is not wise, but if you get partial funding (like your tuition is covered, but you have to borrow a little bit and find a job to pay the bills) maybe it's worth it.  Only you can decide what your tolerance is of the debt.

[Joan_bunny]

Thanks so much for your input, weiwentg.

 

I attended the accepted students day at university of Pittsburgh and was told they might have some RA position (cover tuition and stipends) available, but it highly depended on NIH grants etc. They do successfully fund the majority of their current phd students (80% or higher). But they cannot guarantee anything before the 415 deadline. Same story with UW, I heard this from the department director. 

 

As for University of Texas, they just told me they had very limited funding source for international students. And Yes, I'm an international student who is not eligible for most federal fellowship or traineeship. Feels like no way to go...  

 

I am not in Epi, so I am not sure how well my comments generalize to Epi.

 

I have some offers in health services/policy with guaranteed funding. I have one without guaranteed funding, but in practice, everyone there has got funding, as the professors are quite active in grant writing. The latter school did indicate to me that rely on NIH funding, and thanks to austerity mania, NIH funding is getting squeezed (to the great detriment of America imo).

 

I think the Ivies will be able to guarantee better funding - they are more competitive for the remaining grants and they have endowments. (This may or may not translate to willing, although as someone indicated, Brown is definitely willing.) The top tier non-Ivy research universities are also very competitive on grants, but they may have less money behind the program. I see you're waitlisted on UW; like I said, I am not in Epi, but I believe that the program will be able to scrounge out some sort of funding. UW is a younger program, so they don't have as much endowment money, whereas UMN has some fellowships available that are not from AHRQ funds.

 

In my area, most programs get AHRQ training grants. They will provide tuition waivers and a stipend for a number of students (e.g. UW health policy has 3 slots). Others may be covered by other funds or by research assistantships linked to current faculty grants.

 

I'd recommend that you ask the program administrators how many students have got grants, and whether ANYONE has had to pay their own way at ANY point in the program. The previous poster alluded to this already. For example, not all the Epi students at Hopkins are funded, as I have been told (by a relative who attends). (This is doubly insane because the university should be more than able to get sufficient grant funding.)

 

I agree with the other poster: if you cannot get full funding, do not attend. You will come away with six figure debt and a mid 5 figure salary (if you go into academia).

[Joan_bunny]

Hey, sharonnyc, what did your program tell you about funding? And wherre are you attending, if you don't mind to say. I'm curious.

 

Honestly, I think the situation is pretty bad for epidemiology.  By talking to other students at the programs I applied to I was able to determine that many students at the programs I was accepted to were relying at least partially on loans; it seems that environmental, health policy, and biostats students are better off in terms of opportunities for funding.  I know everyone says if you don't get funded, don't go... but I don't know how realistic this advice is for epidemiology.  It seems that some people might need to at least take out some loans.  I would agree that committing yourself to hundreds of thousands in debt is not wise, but if you get partial funding (like your tuition is covered, but you have to borrow a little bit and find a job to pay the bills) maybe it's worth it.  Only you can decide what your tolerance is of the debt.

[Joan_bunny]

Thank you, juilletmercredi. I did talk to a lot of people. But all I got was like, we don't have identified funding support for now but if you attend there may have funding down the line... I'm getting sick of these kind of words... I don't have a plan-B either.

 

It just depends on the school and program.  Some schools do fund all PhD students, and others don't.  I'm pretty sure that at my current SPH most epi PhD students are funded on training grants, but in my own department funding is a bit...spotty.

 

I would talk to someone - departmental secretary or director of graduate studies - and ask whether there is funding that is available for PhD students, and how often students get funding for the program.  But I definitely wouldn't attend if there's no way to secure full funding.

[sharonnyc]

Sent you a PM! 

 

Hey, sharonnyc, what did your program tell you about funding? And wherre are you attending, if you don't mind to say. I'm curious.