Highest Stipends

[lordclive]

This question has probably been asked and answered before in other avatars. But I'm going to do it again, because I'm looking for information specific to last year's cycle; if that's possible given the circumstances. So here it goes --

Which school offers the highest stipend?

I know that some schools give lower stipends but also put lesser teaching load, some schools (like Harvard) give a lot of money but are criminal in the amount of teaching they force every graduate student to do. I don't care about these contingencies. I simply want to know which school puts the most in your bank account. I've heard that its Stanford, if you do DH stuff. I've also heard that Vanderbilt has some ridiculous fellowships upwards of 35K per year for 5 years. UC schools (except Berkeley and LA) are generally tight-fisted, but you can blame that on idiot politicians. It might also be Northwestern; the Chronicle ran an article a few months ago about how it was amping up its stipends to get better grad students. Who was it last year? Which school gave the fattest stipend?

Edited January 21, 2016 by lordclive

[Ramus]

If you're talking about raw stipend numbers (i.e. not accounting for cost of living), surely NYU has to be near the top. I seem to remember that their award includes a base stipend plus a substantial fellowship award on top of that, totaling, if I remember correctly, nearly 45K. But, then again, you'd be in New York, so it really wouldn't feel like you're taking home that much each year.

Fellowships similar to the Vanderbilt ones crop elsewhere too, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places. Last year, UConn of all places offered me a multi-year fellowship of right around 35/year. I imagine other similarly ranked programs have comparable university-wide fellowships.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Ramus

[ProfLorax]

Have you seen this? 

[silenus_thescribe]

For what it's worth, I don't know how helpful it is to consider what schools pay the highest stipend. Save for the exceptional cases -- Vanderbilt's 35k option being one, as that is a pretty good income all things considered in Nashville (though the city is getting more expensive) -- you won't ever make money as a graduate student. If you're smart about your money you can save small sums, but in most circumstances you'll be living within modest means. I have a friend who has friends in Harvard's PhD, which in comparison to smaller schools "pays more", but Cambridge is also really expensive to live in. Of course, no one goes into this field to make the big bucks, so I'm sure folks are aware of the need to budget conservatively. But, and I'm not saying this was your intention lordclive, I would not advise "following the money." 

[lordclive]

I am well aware that the stipend amount is actually meaningless - $1000 gets you very different places depending on which city/town/village you find yourself in. This is a fact. 

I just want to know which schools are pushing their humanities departments by amping up the money being thrown around. I hope to identify which schools are still allowing English departments to thrive by giving them the means to do so and which schools are imposing budget cuts on their humanities departments. Duke's Program in Lit has been targeted with budget cuts in recent years - to identify one high-profile department that is suffering from the machinations of neoliberal ideology. 

[Horb]

On January 22, 2016 at 9:52 PM, Ramus said:

If you're talking about raw stipend numbers (i.e. not accounting for cost of living), surely NYU has to be near the top. I seem to remember that their award includes a base stipend plus a substantial fellowship award on top of that, totaling, if I remember correctly, nearly 45K. But, then again, you'd be in New York, so it really wouldn't feel like you're taking home that much each year.

Fellowships similar to the Vanderbilt ones crop elsewhere too, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places. Last year, UConn of all places offered me a multi-year fellowship of right around 35/year. I imagine other similarly ranked programs have comparable university-wide fellowships.

As of last yer, their base was 26k and then you got an additional year of fellowship that you either could save for a sixth year or divide over 5 years. So it really wasn't THAT much. 

 

Also, I think Harvard, at least for English, has more years of fellowship than teaching. . .

[Ramus]

5 hours ago, Horb said:

As of last yer, their base was 26k and then you got an additional year of fellowship that you either could save for a sixth year or divide over 5 years. So it really wasn't THAT much. 

Ah, thanks for the correction. I was working from memory, but it turns out my memory isn't all that good. 

[1Q84]

5 hours ago, Horb said:

Also, I think Harvard, at least for English, has more years of fellowship than teaching. . .

USC's English program also has more years of fellowship than teaching now, a change that I understand just took place this past year.

[ExponentialDecay]

Not sure how far you'd get with gauging institutional priorities with raw stipend numbers. Some higher stipends are that way because departments cut cohorts to make them so. Some are due to cost of living adjustments. There isn't a school in the world that's trying to grow its English department right now. The best you can do is not attend one that's going under.

[echo449]

I think it's really complicated. My own program has a surprisingly generous funding offer, with plenty of fellowship funding, but I'm not sure you can say it as simple as a commitment to the humanities so much as a bunch of factors (including a union, a high cost of living, and a tendency to attract commuters) that together influence the offer. Also, there's no reason to think that Yale, or whatever, has a higher commitment to the humanities; they just have more money generally. See the recent drama regarding the raiding of the Classics Department's funds for students by the general university budget to see just how much Yale cares about the humanities in particular. 

[blomnosgrad]

Well, Rutgers is offering me a $30k fellowship. And I am led to believe that they generally offer really good financial packages to doctoral candidates. 

 

Just putting it out there. 

[Matigari]

On 2/29/2016 at 9:08 AM, blomnosgrad said:

 

Well, Rutgers is offering me a $30k fellowship. And I am led to believe that they generally offer really good financial packages to doctoral candidates. 

 

Just putting it out there. 

Dear Lord!!!! 30K is a lot! CUNY only gave me 21--consider that NY is very expensive and New Brunswick quite cheap. I really wanted to get into Rutgers, and that's before knowing how much they fund.

[blomnosgrad]

19 minutes ago, Matigari said:

Dear Lord!!!! 30K is a lot! CUNY only gave me 21--consider that NY is very expensive and New Brunswick quite cheap. I really wanted to get into Rutgers, and that's before knowing how much they fund.

Well, Rutgers is giving $30K for the Excellence Fellowship at least. Other offers might be a little less, but not by much I am sure. Rutgers, I have learned, from my time at Gradcafe is kind in so far as the $$$ is concerned.

However, I should put it out there that I really wanted to get into CUNY, and am now languishing in the depths of their waiting list. 21K is little given the living cost at NY. I know some people were offered 25.

[Matigari]

Well, this year is base 23K and optional research stipend, I think--but the NY rent.... But out of curiosity, why did you want CUNY? I really wanted Rutgers but didn't get in. Funny how things work out. PM if you have questions about the program (and lifestyle which must be taken into account in CUNY).

[blomnosgrad]

11 hours ago, Matigari said:

 But out of curiosity, why did you want CUNY?

The research fit was excellent! Meena Alexander also seemed super keen to have me over.

But can't say I am super disappointed with the Rutgers offer.

[Matigari]

6 hours ago, blomnosgrad said:

The research fit was excellent! Meena Alexander also seemed super keen to have me over.
 

Yeah, Meena is a sweetheart! She's always an advocate for PoCo students (it's an irritatingly eurocentric program). The problem is that  it doesn't seem that Meena, being a distinguished professor, and having responsibilities on her main campus,  will teach too frequently.

I don't-- maybe I'm just disappointing. Or I'm just super jealous of that Rutgers offer. Congrats!

[blomnosgrad]

37 minutes ago, Matigari said:

Yeah, Meena is a sweetheart! She's always an advocate for PoCo students (it's an irritatingly eurocentric program). The problem is that  it doesn't seem that Meena, being a distinguished professor, and having responsibilities on her main campus,  will teach too frequently.

I don't-- maybe I'm just disappointing. Or I'm just super jealous of that Rutgers offer. Congrats!

Meena is indeed an absolute dear, but I did get the impression that she might not be around much. I did speak to one of the older PhD students  who had taken a course with her last semester and was practically raving about it. Siraj Ahmed did write to me telling me to expect good news soon even though I am on the waiting list, so I don't know ...

But after much deliberation and several pros and cons list (given I got accepted to a few other great programs as well), I think I am headed to NJ this Fall. Don't feel too bad about Rutgers! There's always the consortium to take full advantage of

Keep in touch. Us PoCo kids have got to stick together, after all! PM if you don't want the entire "Highest Stipends" thread to have to continue to listen to our CUNY-Rutgers Parent Trap situation.