Median PhD stipend

[giuseppe44]

I get conflicting information online.

 

What is the median stipend for a PhD in Biomedical Engineering.

 

Is about 25k considered poor?

Thanks

[erdingerchamp66]

This depends greatly on where you are. 25k in New York City is nothing. 25k in Birmingham, AL is a completely different story. 

[jacket24]

To erdingerchamp66's point, cost of living does factor in greatly to what may be considered a competitive offer. The website below provides an estimate for the value of $100 in US cities.

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-metropolitan-areas

When analyzing offers, you might calculate a "normalized funding amount" by multiplying the offer by the comparative value of a dollar in that city. For example, if a school in San Francisco offered you $25,000, you would find the normalized amount by taking $25,000 x $82.44/$100. This approach puts the dollar values on the same playing field for direct comparison.

[giuseppe44]

Thanks, it helps a lot!