I’ve been reading so many joyful posts about acceptances to phd programs and they fill my heart. Congratulations. Before I begin, let me say: your acceptance in a doctoral program is evidence of your merit and you should be proud.
[If you were not accepted, hello! I was never accepted to a graduate program, either. I got in off the wait list during my second year of applications and it was a struggle. I’ll write about that another time.]
But we need to talk honestly about what a full ride to graduate school is. Because lots of programs call themselves ‘fully funded,’ but there is a significant range in what that means, and it can have real consequences for your quality of life during your degree. It will impact the amount of time you have to read and write; your ability to participate in (requisite) extracurricular activities like attending conferences, studying languages, visiting archives, and conducting field research; your access to health care; and the likelihood that you will go into debt over the course of your career.
It can be hard to find information about this topic. When I applied to graduate school, I heard “fully funded” and I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t even know what questions to ask. If this is how you feel, then this post is for you. It is a starting place, something to help you ask the right questions and plan for the future.
Before you begin
Some things to ask about your program:
- Are graduate students unionized?
- Is your contract binding? Have the promises been broken in the past?
- Are there special incentives for minority / first gen / international students? How can you access them?
- Is it possible to negotiate? We’ve heard about prospective students negotiating for equipment, reduced teaching loads, extra time in the program, summer funding, and moving fees. (Salaries are hard to negotiate for graduate students.) This is especially possible if you have multiple offers. However, this varies widely by institution and department, so do your homework.
Funding details
The information below is specific to ‘fully funded’ PhD programs in the humanities in the United States. If you are an international student, be aware that you will face additional financial concerns, only some of which are covered here. The information is not comprehensive. But I hope it helps.
This conversation began as a Twitter thread. Thanks to: @thehistoriann @GroverStacyJane @A_Thomas_Bolduc @wisebeck @halinka_remi @HealeyParera @caddington11 @tomsojka @mikers86 @ChidoMuchemwa @monica_keane @pochogreatermx @saintsoftness @jenniferisve @more_mesh @lerikscline @k8shep @behyslop @story645 @carolinecprogro @Lady_Historian
Salary
- Range from $11,000 ~ $30,000
- May or may not include guaranteed summer funding.
- Viability of salary may depend on cost of living in the location of the campus.
- Salaries may vary within departments and cohorts - find out how your offer compares to other people.
Time to degree
- Funding can range from 3-6 years
- 1-2 additional years may be allowed without being guaranteed.
Teaching
- Many programs require teaching as part of your program, but this can vary from teaching 1-2 courses over the course of your degree, to teaching 6 credit hours per semester every semester.
- Some programs may also offer fellowships (see below) or research assistantships. These may carry different salaries or insurance from teaching positions, and may require different kinds of labor.
- Teaching may come with additional duties, like working in a writing center or staffing a language lab, but it doesn’t always.
- While teacher training is great (!), teaching also makes it hard to do the rest of your work, and will have consequences for the speed and quality of your scholarship.
Tuition
- All fully-funded PhD programs should pay tuition costs for the length of your term (3-6 yrs, usually).
- Tuition is charged and paid even if you aren’t taking couresework
- Tuition is often paid in the form of ‘remission,’ so you never receive the money — it goes directly to the university.
- Sometimes tuition is slightly higher than the amount of the remission, and you may be asked to pay the difference.
- If you are at a public school, you may receive a special waiver that makes you eligible for lower in-state tuition costs (reducing the value of your waiver). If you lose your tuition waiver, you may have to pay out-of-state costs, which are generally higher.
- You may have to pay taxes on tuition.
Insurance
- Health insurance quality varies by institution.
- Some institutions provide faculty/staff insurance, while others provide student insurance.
- Not all institutions offer subsidized dental or vision insurance. If available, this is usually an additional monthly cost.
- Find out about coverage for: psych services, dependents, and maternity/paternity care and leave, as applicable.
- International students may have different insurance needs, which may cost more.
Research Costs
- Fellowship semesters/years
- Some universities provide funding for 1-6 semesters of research without any teaching obligations.
- Fellowship funding may be a different amount from your ordinary stipend.
- Fellowships may include different insurance, or no insurance at all.
- While you are on a fellowship, there may be restrictions to whether you are permitted to additional work (or earn additional money).
- Summer funding:
- Funding is not always guaranteed during the summer.
- Summer funding does not always include insurance of any kind.
- Your tuition waiver may not be applicable during the summer (so you may pay extra tuition at a public university).
- Guaranteed conference funding ranges from $200-$800 per year and is often not described in your offer.
- Some programs provide funding for travel to archives, field sites, or short-term educational programs (like rare book school).
Additional Fees and benefits
- Some programs will subsidize moving costs.
- You may have a shared office space, a permanent desk, or rotating desks. My program didn’t provide desks at all!
- Access to computers, printers, and other equipment varies by program.
- Additional fees that may not be covered:
- technology use fee
- Cost of course materials
- international student fees
- supplementary international student insurance
- Difference between tuition and remission.
International Students
- Most universities charge international student fees
- Some universities require supplementary international student insurance
- There are usually visa restrictions on off-campus work
Taxes
- Sometimes tuition costs are taxed even though you didn’t receive the money directly.
Payment timing
- Payment may be delayed until late in the fall semester (October / November). Many students take out loans to cover these first few months.
- Some costs, like travel, may be reimbursed, meaning that you have to pay the initial fee and will be repaid later. Reimbursement can take as long as six months or more.
Further Resources
- Personal Finances for PhD’s (website + podcast) http://pfforphds.com/