Reduction in funding at ABD level?

[Elli389]

I'm writing my dissertation (humanities), and have just found out that my departmental funding will be very low in the coming academic year with no guarantee of TAships. This is not just me; I believe my department has overextended itself as far as new grad admissions.

 

I would very much like to know how unusual/out of line this is. Anyone with similar experiences?

Do you think there is any recourse for this type of situation?

 

[GeoDUDE!]

I signed an admissions contract which guaranteed me an RA/TA for 5 years. If you have something similar to that, you might be able to fight it. If you do not, then there is nothing you can do.

[Elli389]

Thanks for that - nope, no contract.

 

Does this scenario sound unusual to you this far into the degree?

It's not like I'm going to quit at this point, so I just have to find work (= slow down progress) or take out loans.

[TakeruK]

If you do not have a promised funding amount for a certain length of time / contract when you accepted the offer, then there may be no legal recourse available.

 

But this is not necessary the same as there is nothing you can do! It's just that there is no legal obligation but you can still fight it or get support.

 

This scenario would sound very unusual in my field because the sciences tend to fund their students well so all students tend to start their programs with a funding promise for some number of years. I have never heard of a department decreasing funding amount over time! In fact, many places actually increase the amount of money you get once you are ABD because some schools charge less tuition when you get to ABD status (or sometimes candidacy).

 

However, I don't know if it is unusual universally.

 

If you and other students are unhappy with this and want to do something about it, I think a good first step is to go to your department and let them know that you are not satisfied with their solution. You can also go to both your student government and the Graduate Studies Office. Perhaps these organizations can apply more pressure to the department to find a better solution than forcing its ABD students to take outside work and/or take out loans. In addition, the school itself might have some reserve funding that they might be able to distribute.

 

At the same time, you should also check to see if your school has a minimum amount of funding that departments must provide for their graduate students. This can vary a lot depending on the school, though--at some places the number is truly the minimum livable stipend but at others, it's far below the poverty line.

 

In my opinion, it's the department's fault that they are not able to meet their financial commitments to their students and they are the ones that should take out loans or cut back other expenses. However, I know that reality is not always fair and sometimes a fair solution really is not possible. Either way, my instinct would be to make it clear that a sudden decrease in funding is making grad school unaffordable for many students and pressure them further to find a better solution. Even though without a contract, they legally and technically do have the prerogative in making these decisions, I would want the department to feel a lot of responsibility in ensuring their students have fair/livable stipends. I would also want for them to know that actions that negatively affect student lives like this would be met with very strong negative reactions from their students. 

[Eigen]

For the humanities, reduced funding for ABD's is not us uncommon as it is for the sciences. 

 

Most of the programs at my university fund the first 4-5 years (which is usually the point at which students are ABD). Once ABD, the students aren't obligated to be on campus, and some even find full/part time faculty jobs while still ABD. 

 

Accordingly, funding is more usually reduced at that time. 

[TakeruK]

For the humanities, reduced funding for ABD's is not us uncommon as it is for the sciences. 

 

Most of the programs at my university fund the first 4-5 years (which is usually the point at which students are ABD). Once ABD, the students aren't obligated to be on campus, and some even find full/part time faculty jobs while still ABD. 

 

Accordingly, funding is more usually reduced at that time. 

 

I agree that there is some sense to reducing funding if students are expected to be off campus and/or finding other jobs while ABD. But, I think there is a difference between a program telling its students "We will fund you for $X for Y years and then $Z for the remaining years" than suddenly changing the funding scheme just prior to the start of a new year because of an unforeseen circumstance. I interpreted OP's situation to be more like the latter than the former.

 

In addition, while there is no legal obligation without contracts, I think that a responsible academic program should ensure that the length of time before "reduced funding" happens accurately reflects actual length of time to degree. For example, I think that if the program's median time to degree is, say 5.3 years, then I think reducing funding after 5 years is not a responsible thing to do, as this means at least half of the students will be on "reduced funding" for some portion of their degree! "Not obligated to be on campus" should not be synonymous with "must spend more time off campus / not working on dissertation in order to pay for living expenses". I think that if a program finds that students are taking longer than the typical amount of time they are funded for, the program should do some self-reflection to see how they can reduce any unnecessary time-to-degree.

[Eigen]

But if you take, say, history or English PhDs, the average time to PhD is 10 years, and the average time for full funding is 4-5.

You're looking at this from a very science centric standpoint, IMO.

[TakeruK]

But if you take, say, history or English PhDs, the average time to PhD is 10 years, and the average time for full funding is 4-5.

You're looking at this from a very science centric standpoint, IMO.

 

Fair enough. While I knew that time to degree in the humanities was longer than in the sciences, I was unaware that actual average time to degree is 10 years for some fields--I had thought stories of 10 year degrees are outliers! 

[victorydance]

There are also many dissertation fellowships that you can apply for, both external and internal. This is true especially if you need to do fieldwork. I know a few Ph.D. candidates that got more funding during this period than during their coursework period.

[victorydance]

Fair enough. While I knew that time to degree in the humanities was longer than in the sciences, I was unaware that actual average time to degree is 10 years for some fields--I had thought stories of 10 year degrees are outliers! 

 

They are outliers. Across most fields, with some exceptions, the benchmark for average registered time to completion of doctoral programs is 7 years. 

 

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/nsf06312.pdf

Edited August 26, 2014 by victorydance

[rising_star]

Elli389, my graduate department sorta tried to do something like that but the students (with the help of the Grad College) fought back against it. You might also see if you can get a TA position in another department on campus or in student affairs so that you can have the funding you need to finish.

[Eigen]

They are outliers. Across most fields, with some exceptions, the benchmark for average registered time to completion of doctoral programs is 7 years. 

 

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf06312/nsf06312.pdf

Depends what you mean by outliers.

Humanities overall, as of 2003 in the data you linked are at 9 years average. Social sciences are 8. 10 isn't a huge outlier with a mean of 9.

If you take, say, the 2012 brief (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/digest/2012/nsf14305.pdf) it's only recently that humanities have dropped below a 10 year average time to degree, and then only barely.

[Elli389]

Wow, thank you all for the really great information, advice, and opinions.

This is really helpful.

 

TakeruK, I apologize for not being more clear about my situation. I was never promised $X for Y years when I entered the program.

However, up until now the amount of funding I have received from my department every year has been more or less enough to cover all of my tuition and fees.

The impression I got was, therefore, that this was their approach to supporting grad students, and there was never any suggestion that there would be a change in this pattern.

 

Thank you victorydance for that advice. I did apply for internal fellowships which I unfortunately didn't get, and I am planning to apply to some external fellowships (but they are really competitive! Yikes.)

And thanks rising_star for the suggestion, echoing TakeruK's thought, that we grads might be able to enlist help to amend this situation. I am absolutely going to look into organizations on campus that might be able to help.

 

I don't actually know the funding situation of all of the grads in my department, and I assume that it is inappropriate to ask them, especially those I barely know...

[TakeruK]

I don't actually know the funding situation of all of the grads in my department, and I assume that it is inappropriate to ask them, especially those I barely know...

 

Sometimes sharing first helps other people feel more comfortable sharing. If something like this happened to me, I would go to some of my colleagues first and say something like "hey....my stipend got drastically reduced this year...did yours?" But I feel pretty comfortable asking people about these kind of things, since I don't feel like they should be secret. (I just recently surveyed grad students across my campus, asking for their funding level, in order to see if we need to make an argument to the school about raising the minimum stipend so that paying for rent in our very expensive city is affordable!)

[Eigen]

Some more clarification- they're no longer paying you enough to cover tuition and fees? That seems really unusual. All of my comments were in relation to a reduction in stipends, not a reduction in tuition/fee remissions. 

 

Are you at least part time/0 time and eligible for significantly reduced/no tuition and fees? At my school once a PhD student in the humanities reaches candidacy, they don't pay any fees, and pay next to no tuition, as they're taking no classes. 

 

This is also generally why stipends are cut, and they tend to get hired on as adjuncts instead.

 

If you're a candidate and they're not covering your tuition/fees, I'd definitely make a stink about it. My first suggestion would be to talk to other graduate students in the same school (I assume Liberal Arts), and see if it's a department thing or a school thing. Then, talk to your graduate student association, provost, graduate school, etc.

[Elli389]

Thanks again, I really value all of your thoughts on this. It does sound like this kind of funding cut is unusual.

 

Yes, they are no longer giving me enough funding from the department to cover my tuition and fees, and I am not receiving any stipend.

Unlike your school, Eigen, the only way for an ABD to be eligible for reduced fees/tuition is to move out of the state.

 

As per your advice, I will first try to get a better idea about how many other grads have had their funding cut, and also I will contact the Grad Student Ass'n; maybe they can give me an idea about how to proceed.

 

Thank you all again!

[rising_star]

If you don't have enough money to pay your tuition and fees, can you take a leave of absence?

[Elli389]

Thank you all, again, for your time and comments.

 

From what I can now tell by asking other ABDs in my department, everyone is and has been poorly funded.

In addition, I was informed that preference for the allocation of departmental funds goes to grads who have not yet reached candidacy.

 

I'm trying to see if there is something that can be done about all of this. I understand that the dean of the college or graduate division can be unaware of the funding issues of a particular department, and if they are made aware, sometimes the department can receive more funding from the university.

[GeoDUDE!]

If this is common practice in the humanities no wonder the graduate rate of PhDs is so low. Absolutely unethical, in my opinion, considering the dissertation is the most important thing of the doctorate. 

[Elli389]

Thank you for that voice of support!!