I only know one person who even was a graduate assistant while getting a PhD so this is just uninformed at best.
Edit: This person did their post-doc at Stanford in neuroscience. I specifically asked them about this some time ago and they told me that their tuition was indeed covered by them being a GA. However, due to changes in the tax code that’s considered income. So they owe taxes like they were making six figures a year. The only reason this person has been able to afford this is because their parents are rich. This was the main part of my point, you have to be rich or lucky to get a graduate degree in the United States regardless of how your tuition is paid for.
The reason I said this was uninformed is because I know far more people who have gotten PhD‘s who are simply up to their eyeballs in student debt. I realize that this is anecdotal but none of the research that I’ve been presented or seen myself indicates to me that this or having rich parents is not the norm.
How many thousands of PhD candidates do you personally know where you can actually type “well, I only know one person like that so you’re uninformed”?
Mate, you’re on the Internet. Go to your search engine of choice, search for “are most US stem phds fully funded” and behold! Page after page confirming your apparently vast anecdotal knowledge is completely wrong.
I did search this for the largest institution in my state before I made the comment. PhD’s are more expensive there per credit hour than masters degrees. The only thing I have found searching what you’ve indicated is scholarships or GAs. Not how much tuition actually costs.
Yes, you found the cost per credit hour that is paid to the university by the supporting financial source. The university makes money from tuition while making additional money from the work completed by students and faculty for the research funding. They double dip.
Teaching and research assistantships will also “waive” tuition fees and provide a poverty level stipend, allowing the university to brag about its charity while utilizing low wage grad students to replace positions formerly held by tenure track professors, who are already increasingly displaced by adjunct professors.
This is not true. In STEM in the US nearly all PhD candidates are paid a stipend and tuition.
I only know one person who even was a graduate assistant while getting a PhD so this is just uninformed at best.
Edit: This person did their post-doc at Stanford in neuroscience. I specifically asked them about this some time ago and they told me that their tuition was indeed covered by them being a GA. However, due to changes in the tax code that’s considered income. So they owe taxes like they were making six figures a year. The only reason this person has been able to afford this is because their parents are rich. This was the main part of my point, you have to be rich or lucky to get a graduate degree in the United States regardless of how your tuition is paid for.
The reason I said this was uninformed is because I know far more people who have gotten PhD‘s who are simply up to their eyeballs in student debt. I realize that this is anecdotal but none of the research that I’ve been presented or seen myself indicates to me that this or having rich parents is not the norm.
How many thousands of PhD candidates do you personally know where you can actually type “well, I only know one person like that so you’re uninformed”?
Mate, you’re on the Internet. Go to your search engine of choice, search for “are most US stem phds fully funded” and behold! Page after page confirming your apparently vast anecdotal knowledge is completely wrong.
lol. I got a chuckle out of this. Ty.
My pleasure. They seem well intentioned but haven’t the slightest idea what they’re talking about.
I did search this for the largest institution in my state before I made the comment. PhD’s are more expensive there per credit hour than masters degrees. The only thing I have found searching what you’ve indicated is scholarships or GAs. Not how much tuition actually costs.
Yes, you found the cost per credit hour that is paid to the university by the supporting financial source. The university makes money from tuition while making additional money from the work completed by students and faculty for the research funding. They double dip.
Teaching and research assistantships will also “waive” tuition fees and provide a poverty level stipend, allowing the university to brag about its charity while utilizing low wage grad students to replace positions formerly held by tenure track professors, who are already increasingly displaced by adjunct professors.