'Normal' Range of Funding for Soc PhDs?

[gingin6789]

1 minute ago, ts1493 said:

Yes, I think that's it.  I got two separate letters with the awards, and the POI explained it to me just as you said .... hope that's the case for you, too! 

I think it's the case for me, for the NC State Fellowship! If I get the fellowship from UC Davis, I'll make sure to clarify this as well.

[Katastrophe]

1 hour ago, gingin6789 said:

Ok cool. From what it sounds like, it's similar to mine. So, say you got $17,000 in a stipend for TA duties, then you got $5,000 for a fellowship, it would equal $22,000. 

While krispy and kat warn that, in some other cases, a $5,000 fellowship would bump the TA stipend down to $12,000 in order to keep your funding at $17,000 per year.

Am I understanding this all correctly? Just wanna know I'm on the lookout for the right info haha :-)

A hypothetical example of what happened to me was more like:

The TA stipend-funding is 25K, but you got a fellowship that is 30K for X amount of years. The conditions of the fellowship are no TA/no RA (unless you do it for no extra money because you want experience)  and you can hold no other job of any kind during the fellowship period.

 

Little different everywhere it looks like. So now we have three options that all involve more money or less work (all amazing)!

1. You get to add your stipend and your fellowship

2. Your fellowship lessens your ta/ra hours

3. Your fellowship removes the conditions of the 'normal' stipend

[gingin6789]

@Katastrophewow thanks! That makes more sense! 

[any5]

Something else to think about is how much health insurance (& other benefits) is subsidized. Especially relevant if you also have a family, how much they'd be subsidized. This can be worth $10,000+ a year 

[soc13]

Here's a question for the group, and I may cross-post this in the general forum as well.  Anyone have experience working a little bit (not through the university) while receiving full funding/stipend? I know a lot of places state that you should hold no other job, but I was curious as to how firm this really was (and if they check, the only way possible is through taxes, I suppose, if it's non-university).

Yes, I know, I won't have time, etc. (please withhold those cautions and arguments, lol) but the company I'm leaving would likely love to keep me on for a few months for a few hours a week as we wrap up one of the larger research projects I work on, as I have the most in-depth knowledge and relationships with our clients. 

[rising_star]

I know plenty of people who have done it @mm3733 and I did it as a MA student. As long as you can handle all of your commitments AND there are no repercussions (like losing your university funding package) for doing it, I think it's no problem.

[flatnwhite]

Hi, friends. On (why) money matters:

So I spent some time really investigating what exactly the UC Irvine package meant: in tangible, in-pocket terms. I will share with you the results and, along the way, give some useful sources. 

Givens: min. 5 years' tuition, healthcare, guaranteed on-campus housing (not sure if it's subsidized); the first year of out-state fees is covered. Since I am focused on lived experiences on the PhD wage, I will not translate the value of these givens now even though they are necessarily part of any compelling offer.

Since Irvine is no elite school, "stipends" usually come as work like teaching assistantships (req. teaching) or research assistant ships (req. researching), but sometimes also as fellowships (free money). I basically got at least 5 years of 3-quarters of teaching at 20hrs a week. This amounts to, then, $19,280 per year before taxes.

But my letter said I also had to pay $260 per quarter in some kind of fees. That means $780 per year. 

To learn what happens to that sum above after withholding, I found this really nifty state tax calculator (https://smartasset.com/taxes/), which then gave me an approximate picture of my state and federal income tax and social security withholdings based on my salary and location. This amounted to $2,580 per year.

So what does that leave me?

$19,280
-$780
-$2,580
= $15,900 in pocket per year (based on 9 months' wages)

= $1,300 in pocket per month

This "bottom line" is kinda tight for food and accommodation and textbooks and transportation, in my opinion, especially given the 20 hours a week 9 months of the year for five years alongside PhD work. I suppose one could also work in the summers and add a sizable increment to the in-pocket per month sum (say, $400). But that raises the question whether there develops a trade-off between TAing and the quality of one's learning and research.

Edited February 15, 2016 by flatnwhite
diction

[soc13]

21 hours ago, rising_star said:

I know plenty of people who have done it @mm3733 and I did it as a MA student. As long as you can handle all of your commitments AND there are no repercussions (like losing your university funding package) for doing it, I think it's no problem.

Thanks, @rising_star. That was my inclination as well. I worked all throughout my master's in research positions outside the university although I was a FT student without any problem. I was just hoping there wouldn't be any issue with it impacting funding of this type but it doesn't sound like it. Thanks again!

[faculty]

3 hours ago, flatnwhite said:

To learn what happens to that sum above after withholding, I found this really nifty state tax calculator (https://smartasset.com/taxes/), which then gave me an approximate picture of my state and federal income tax and social security withholdings based on my salary and location. This amounted to $2,580 per year.

It's important to take into account fees, but the vast majority of graduate students won't be paying social security taxes on their stipends. See: https://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Student-Exception-to-FICA-Tax.

[flatnwhite]

11 minutes ago, faculty said:

It's important to take into account fees, but the vast majority of graduate students won't be paying social security taxes on their stipends. See: https://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Student-Exception-to-FICA-Tax.

just brilliant! here is an updated approximation with generous rounding (usually to the nearest ten bucks):

3 hours ago, flatnwhite said:

$19,280
-$780
-$1,100 (fed. and state taxes, now no social security fees are included)
= $17,400 in pocket per year (based on 9 months' wages)

= $1,450 in pocket per month

(sorry for the misinformation in the previous post!)

Edited February 15, 2016 by flatnwhite

[krispykreme]

is it reasonable to ask for more money due to cost of living? For example, two schools offered same package but one will get you far more due to location...

[kelris]

On 2/18/2016 at 8:33 AM, krispykreme said:

is it reasonable to ask for more money due to cost of living? For example, two schools offered same package but one will get you far more due to location...

it is reasonable to ask for more money, but it's more like negotiating than asking. It is normal to assume that the offer is fixed, unless you have leverage. Some departments will be able to squeeze a couple thousands more from the Office of grad school, from the college level or even the department level. But you should go into this conversation with something like, "I have a similar offer at another school. I'd like to choose your program but need more. what can you do for me?" 

[Katastrophe]

23 hours ago, kelris said:

it is reasonable to ask for more money, but it's more like negotiating than asking. It is normal to assume that the offer is fixed, unless you have leverage. Some departments will be able to squeeze a couple thousands more from the Office of grad school, from the college level or even the department level. But you should go into this conversation with something like, "I have a similar offer at another school. I'd like to choose your program but need more. what can you do for me?" 

I agree. Personally, I would only do this is I was 100% sure I wanted to go to the school. Like: I will accept on the spot if you can give more money. Because I think the academic world is small enough that it might not be great for your reputation to campaign for more money (making more work for the department) and then not go.

[any5]

Is it worthwhile to ask for a "relocation stipend" instead of asking outright for more academic stipend?

[kelris]

58 minutes ago, any5 said:

Is it worthwhile to ask for a "relocation stipend" instead of asking outright for more academic stipend?

again I think this is something you can do but understand that you got one spot in a program that probably 50 people at a moments notice would drop everything for, move across the country, for half the offer you probably already have in hand. If you want more than you have, you're not asking...You're leveraging. So, be prepared to have a leverage conversation.