Deciding between two good offers for ed measurement

[grumpyowl]

First, thanks for reading, and any advice you may have to offer.

I've applied to and been accepted to two programs in Educational Measurement, and I'm having a very difficult time trying to decide between the two schools. Details for each follow.

University of Washington, Measurement, Statistics, and Research Design

• guaranteed RA position for first year, in line with my research interests. likely RA and TA positions in future years, but cannot be guaranteed for whole time.
• My masters is from UW, and I worked well with the person who would be my advisor (though they were not my master's advisor)

University of Minnesota, Quantitative Methods in Education

• guaranteed funding for all PhD students
• seem to have good rapport with potential advisor

At either school, my advisor shares at least some of my research interests. Also, each potential advisor seems to do a good job of making sure their advisees get the right experience for their CV for jobs/internships. From what I've been able to discover, the funding package is very similar--covers all tuition, and a stipend of roughly 20k per academic year, health insurance.

I've already lived in Seattle and absolutely loved it. I also did my masters there, so I am familiar with the department, the school, etc. I think at this point I'm probably leaning towards going back to UW, but I have a nagging feeling that I might be missing out on a big opportunity with Minnesota.

I think I'm looking for two different kinds of advice:

1) if you happen to know about this field or these programs, what would you have to say about the benefits of each school?

2) if you aren't in this field, how would (did) you go about making you choice of which school to attend?

Thank you in advance for any advice you might have! Also I'm working out my thoughts about this as I write, so please let me know if there is anything I can clarify.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

So I think there is some information missing here. You have the info that UW would have you working as an RA your first year with the possibility of RA/TA for subsequent years, but what type of funding is at UM? Is it mainly an RA or TA position, or a funding package that doesn't require working for the university? How long does that guaranteed funding last and does the type of funding change (i.e. guaranteed fellowship your first year and placement as an RA or TA for subsequent years)? How long do students usually take to get their degree at each university? Does funding cover one year with options later or is their a funding for 5 year deal without mention of what happens if it takes longer? 

And, perhaps most importantly, will the funding you receive cover your expenses at each university? Have you factored in the cost of living in each university town when calculating how much coverage you'll need?

[rising_star]

Three things come to mind immediately, though as GreenEyedTrombonist has said, there's more information that would be helpful.

1) The cost of living in Seattle is likely higher than that of the Twin Cities. In that sense, $20K may go a lot further and you may be able to live more comfortably. I have several friends who live in the Twin Cities and they all love it. There's a lot to do, the area is quite diverse, and it's an airline hub. It's worth considering whether you'll be able to survive on the funding.

2) It's also worth thinking about summer funding. Does either package include summer funding? Are there options to get summer research grants or TA in the summer? Are you able to get a summer internship with the ACT, SAT, etc. or would your RA require you to be putting in 40 hours/week in the summer? All questions I'd want answers to before choosing.

3) When I was in your shoes of deciding between staying at my MA institution or going elsewhere, basically every single faculty member in my MA program told me that they admitted me with funding because they wanted me to stay but that they also thought that I should go elsewhere. I did go elsewhere and I don't regret it academically or professionally. You'll still be able to connect and collaborate with folks at your MA institution but, going to another school dramatically expands your network and gives you new opportunities you may not have even known of. So if I were you, I'd take the funding and leave UW.

[grumpyowl]

Thank you both for the replies, rising_star and GreenEyedTrombonist. You've both given me some great things to think about and, more importantly, some important questions to be answered!