Understanding Funding Offers

[Forest Owlet]

I’ve received an offer from one of the PhD programs that I had applied to, along with funding details. A am a bit confused about some of the points, and while I will definitely try to clarify these with the department/POI, I need to understand how things work before I do that:

 

1. The letter says that they are offering me a 5 year funding package (and have stated a $ amount), including 1 year of GSR support from the department + 1 year from my POI. Then it says that funding in the remaining years will consist of a combination of GSR, GSI and competitive fellowship funds that I obtain on my own. I am confused - are they guaranteeing support for 5 years, or will I have to compete for it after 2 years?

 

2. The letter mentions that support will be for the 10-month academic year. What about the Summer months? What typically happens?

 

3. It also says that my in-state tuition costs and fees are covered. 'International students will have their NRT covered for 2 years'. Again, what happens after 2 years?

 

4. There's no mention of Health Insurance. Is this normal?

 

5. Does this funding include any fellowships or do the decisions for that typically happen later?

 

Is there anything else that I should watch out for/clarify? Also, is it ok to ask so many questions to your POI 

[TakeruK]

Yeah, definitely clarify with the professor / the person that made the offer to you. To help you though, here are some possible answers to your question / tips on how to find more info:

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

1. The letter says that they are offering me a 5 year funding package (and have stated a $ amount), including 1 year of GSR support from the department + 1 year from my POI. Then it says that funding in the remaining years will consist of a combination of GSR, GSI and competitive fellowship funds that I obtain on my own. I am confused - are they guaranteeing support for 5 years, or will I have to compete for it after 2 years?

This wording is typical for a lot of schools. This sounds like yes, the plan is to fund you for 5 years, and they are telling you that it is certain that you will have one year of GSR support and 1 year from your prof (interpretation: there are two years that you won't have to TA). The remaining 3 years are "competitive" and basically will depend on your progress. If your POI has funding, you might get additional POI funding, or if you get a fellowship (competed within the department I guess?) or a GSR then you will continue like the first 2 years. Otherwise, it sounds like your final years may be funded by a GSI (i.e. teaching). It also leaves the possibility of you getting no funding if you are not progressing, however, in most programs, this means you are getting kicked out----schools will rarely keep a student but revoke funding.

So, the interpretation is that you will be funded for 5 years for sure. You know that 2 of these years will be GSR/RA type funding. The final 3 years could be more RA work or it could be TA work. I wouldn't worry about losing the funding.

The clarification questions I would ask are: 1) what fraction of students are funded by GSR/GSI/fellowships each? and 2) how are GSR and GSI allocated?

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

2. The letter mentions that support will be for the 10-month academic year. What about the Summer months? What typically happens?

This is a little less normal in the sciences. Usually, the letter says something like, you are funded for the 9/10 month academic year on a TA (or GSI) and you can get a RA/GSR in the summer months. It is weird that the letter doesn't specifically say this. You should definitely ask what are the sources for summer funding and whether it's a competition and how many people get summer funding etc. Maybe it doesn't say because it's up to your POI to provide summer funding and the letter is only discussing the department provided support. So double check.

It might be the case that you get no summer funding, but this might be okay if the 10 month funding is indeed enough to last the whole year.

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

3. It also says that my in-state tuition costs and fees are covered. 'International students will have their NRT covered for 2 years'. Again, what happens after 2 years?

I would be concerned about this. How much is NRT? At some schools this is like $20,000. You should ask what happens after two years to ensure that you don't pay for this out of your stipend. Maybe like above, the source is your POI so the letter doesn't mention it. I think this is the most worrisome part of the offer!! One exception: Maybe the state that you are going to only charges NRT for the first 2 years and then you are back to the in-state rate. Hopefully you'll get this clarified.

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

4. There's no mention of Health Insurance. Is this normal?

Sometimes the letter doesn't mention support for insurance. You should check the graduate students website for the school and see what kind of insurance could be provided. It is normal for students directly "employed" (although many schools will say we're not employees technically) to be able to have access to insurance benefits. So, you might only get school support for insurance only when you are on a GSI (and since you don't have a GSI offer right now, there isn't any). 

However, I think international students are required to have insurance, so you will still have to pay for the school's student plan. So check the school website to find out what the costs are. At one example school, I see numbers like $4000 per year for insurance for students, and $2000 if you are on a GSI. Also ask the POI for clarification on insurance benefits, if any. 

If there is no school offered insurance at all, then it's a little weird. But it's normal for a school to not offer insurance as part of your pay/benefits. You need to consider this when comparing offers from different schools.

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

5. Does this funding include any fellowships or do the decisions for that typically happen later?

 

You can still check, but usually if there are still additional funding to be earned via fellowships, they would have told you. Maybe there are summer funding fellowships though. Note that even if you win additional fellowships later, you might not end up getting more money. Often, the written value on the offer letter is going to be your stipend no matter the source of the money. That is, if you win a fellowship for the last 3 years, you are not likely to be able to have the fellowship and also work as a GSI. They'll replace your GSI funding with your fellowship.

10 hours ago, Forest Owlet said:

Is there anything else that I should watch out for/clarify? Also, is it ok to ask so many questions to your POI 

Don't forget that stipends in the US are taxable. You may end up paying little tax due to a tax treaty between your country and the US, but remember to deduct taxes. Also remember that there are three levels of taxes: city, state and federal. Some cities and states do not tax their residents though, but just keep it in mind.

You asked about health insurance, but also look into dental and vision insurance too. These are often considered separate from health insurance in the US. Factor in these costs when comparing funding packages. It's more common to see dental plans than vision plans.

It's okay to ask the relevant questions to your POI. For some stuff, you might want to ask someone else more directly involved. If you got this offer from your POI, then ask all the questions above to your POI. If you got it from someone else, like the director of graduate studies or someone similar, then ask that person instead.

[Forest Owlet]

38 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Yeah, definitely clarify with the professor / the person that made the offer to you. To help you though, here are some possible answers to your question / tips on how to find more info:

This wording is typical for a lot of schools. This sounds like yes, the plan is to fund you for 5 years, and they are telling you that it is certain that you will have one year of GSR support and 1 year from your prof (interpretation: there are two years that you won't have to TA). The remaining 3 years are "competitive" and basically will depend on your progress. If your POI has funding, you might get additional POI funding, or if you get a fellowship (competed within the department I guess?) or a GSR then you will continue like the first 2 years. Otherwise, it sounds like your final years may be funded by a GSI (i.e. teaching). It also leaves the possibility of you getting no funding if you are not progressing, however, in most programs, this means you are getting kicked out----schools will rarely keep a student but revoke funding.

So, the interpretation is that you will be funded for 5 years for sure. You know that 2 of these years will be GSR/RA type funding. The final 3 years could be more RA work or it could be TA work. I wouldn't worry about losing the funding.

The clarification questions I would ask are: 1) what fraction of students are funded by GSR/GSI/fellowships each? and 2) how are GSR and GSI allocated?

This is a little less normal in the sciences. Usually, the letter says something like, you are funded for the 9/10 month academic year on a TA (or GSI) and you can get a RA/GSR in the summer months. It is weird that the letter doesn't specifically say this. You should definitely ask what are the sources for summer funding and whether it's a competition and how many people get summer funding etc. Maybe it doesn't say because it's up to your POI to provide summer funding and the letter is only discussing the department provided support. So double check.

It might be the case that you get no summer funding, but this might be okay if the 10 month funding is indeed enough to last the whole year.

I would be concerned about this. How much is NRT? At some schools this is like $20,000. You should ask what happens after two years to ensure that you don't pay for this out of your stipend. Maybe like above, the source is your POI so the letter doesn't mention it. I think this is the most worrisome part of the offer!! One exception: Maybe the state that you are going to only charges NRT for the first 2 years and then you are back to the in-state rate. Hopefully you'll get this clarified.

Sometimes the letter doesn't mention support for insurance. You should check the graduate students website for the school and see what kind of insurance could be provided. It is normal for students directly "employed" (although many schools will say we're not employees technically) to be able to have access to insurance benefits. So, you might only get school support for insurance only when you are on a GSI (and since you don't have a GSI offer right now, there isn't any). 

However, I think international students are required to have insurance, so you will still have to pay for the school's student plan. So check the school website to find out what the costs are. At one example school, I see numbers like $4000 per year for insurance for students, and $2000 if you are on a GSI. Also ask the POI for clarification on insurance benefits, if any. 

If there is no school offered insurance at all, then it's a little weird. But it's normal for a school to not offer insurance as part of your pay/benefits. You need to consider this when comparing offers from different schools.

You can still check, but usually if there are still additional funding to be earned via fellowships, they would have told you. Maybe there are summer funding fellowships though. Note that even if you win additional fellowships later, you might not end up getting more money. Often, the written value on the offer letter is going to be your stipend no matter the source of the money. That is, if you win a fellowship for the last 3 years, you are not likely to be able to have the fellowship and also work as a GSI. They'll replace your GSI funding with your fellowship.

Don't forget that stipends in the US are taxable. You may end up paying little tax due to a tax treaty between your country and the US, but remember to deduct taxes. Also remember that there are three levels of taxes: city, state and federal. Some cities and states do not tax their residents though, but just keep it in mind.

You asked about health insurance, but also look into dental and vision insurance too. These are often considered separate from health insurance in the US. Factor in these costs when comparing funding packages. It's more common to see dental plans than vision plans.

It's okay to ask the relevant questions to your POI. For some stuff, you might want to ask someone else more directly involved. If you got this offer from your POI, then ask all the questions above to your POI. If you got it from someone else, like the director of graduate studies or someone similar, then ask that person instead.

Thank you for that incredibly detailed answer! This will be very helpful when I discuss these points with my POI.