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Paying for your PhD
| Publish date | 2007-09-18 |
| Available Articles | Full articles without membership |
Don’t let cost keep you from applying to the school of your dreams. Many doctorates are partially funded by the university. An expensive school may be able to offer more money in the form of scholarships or assistantships than a less expensive program can, so that your costs are equal or even less.
Pre-Application Fees Application Fees Mailing costs for sending supplemental application materials: Varies, higher if sent to overseas programs Transcript processing fees from your undergraduate institution: Varies Program Fees NOTE: For some schools, tuition may be lower if you’ve established residency in the state. Books/copies/materials: What are the typical costs associated with the courses you plan to take? Other fees: Will there be lab fees? Student services fees? Travel and other costs for conferences or short-term residencies? Funding Options The basic types of financial aid are Scholarships/Grants If you are continuing to work full time while attending a part-time or distance-learning Ph.D. program, your employer may cover some or all of your tuition. (Working for the university as a regular employee, in a position unrelated to your department, may also qualify you for free or reduced tuition.) And, if you or your spouse are or have been in the military, you may qualify for tuition assistance from the military or from the school itself. NOTE: You may get an offer of financial aid from one school before you hear from other schools, but you are not required to respond before April 15. If a school has made you an offer that doesn’t meet your needs, don’t be shy about asking about the possibility of a larger grant or scholarship, especially if you’ve received a better offer from another school; more funds may become available. Assistantships/Work-Study These positions may be funded by the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program; if the school has FWS funds for graduate students, you will automatically be considered when you apply for financial aid. Loans The primary source of financial aid is the federal government. The two most common loans for graduate students are Perkins Loans and Stafford Loans. Finally, if necessary you may choose to take out a loan from private lender.
With tuition costs for a doctorate running as high as $75,000, a Ph.D. is a major investment.
Costs Related to a Ph.D. Program
Here are some of the costs you may have to take into account:
GREs (if applicable): General Test $130; Each Subject Test $130
GRE prep course: Varies
Application fees: $50 to $60 per program
Tuition: Programs calculate tuition fees in different ways—some per credit, and some per semester, with a certain number of courses expected per semester.
How you arrange to pay for your program will depend on a number of factors. If you are willing to take on long-term loans, a variety of financial aid options can make almost any program workable; a majority of doctoral students receive some type of financial aid.
Merit-based full or partial scholarships for the cost of tuition, as well as grants for tuition and/or living expenses, may be given by the department itself,the university overall, or various outside sources.
Doctoral students commonly work as departmental teaching or research assistants;in fact, they are often counted on to fill these positions. Such a position might cover your tuition plus a small stipend for living expenses, for all or part of your time in the program.
You may not receive all the funding you need. Some doctoral programs will only give aid after the first year; similarly, you may not be eligible for aid after you complete your coursework but are still writing your dissertation. To fill in the gaps in your funding, you may have to take out a loan.
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