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Completing a doctoral dissertation is a full-time job in and of itself, but if you also need to search for funding, you might feel too overwhelmed to concentrate on your studies. The most common types of funding sources are teaching and research fellowships (TA’s and RA’s), but there are also other sources of external funding. In the pie chart below, I summarized sources of financial support for graduate students. (Source: http://www.nsf.gove/statistics/nsf10309/content.cfm?pub_id=3996&id=8#tab24)



1. Grants and Scholarships
Grants and scholarships do not need to be repaid and can come from government and private institutions. While the guidelines for grants vary by funding agency, government grants are typically awarded to students from low income families, and frequently require a good GPA.

2. Graduate Student Fellowships
Fellowships are the preferred source of funds for students and professors because:

1) They do not need to pay be repaid
2) They look prestigious on your resume
3) Frequently include research funds

Applying for fellowships will give you practice with grants writing, an important skill if you plan on becoming a faculty member. Your adviser and the grants administrator in your department can also help you with the preparation of your proposal.

3. Graduate Student Loans
While graduate student loans need to be repaid, they are usually low interest, and have reasonable repayment plans. Make sure that you do not take out more loans than you can comfortably repay after graduation. In order to decide whether to take the loan, compare your monthly payments with a realistic estimate of your post-graduation salary, and take into consideration other costs that you might accrue once you begin working (car, rent/mortgage, raising a family).

Lack of proper funding is a common reason for students to discontinue their studies, but I have made this task easier for you by collecting online tools for you. Simply click here to find a bibliography of financial aid resources in the August’09 edition of PhD News.

Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author, “The Smart Way to Your PhD: 200 Secrets from 100 Graduates.”
www.phdnet.org
dora@phdnet.org

My friend Lisa (not her real name) struggled financially for years during the time she and her husband were graduate students. “I just wish we could complete our studies without having to worry about money. Being able to focus on our theses would seem like such a luxury.” Fortunately both Lisa and her husband were able to complete their theses, but lack of funding is one of the most common reasons for students to leave graduate school.

This observation brings us to the next question: Is it even worth financially to go to graduate school? Some of you readers might take offense at the simplicity of the following statement, but it surprises me how few students actually think about finances before enrolling in Masters or Doctoral programs. In summary, do not take on more debt than you can comfortably repay after graduate school. Online sites such as www.salary.com, and www.payscale.com, can help you estimate your expected salary upon graduation. Take into consideration your disposable income after buying a house and a car and raising a family. Your tolerance for debt will be even lower if you already have undergraduate loans.

In the graph above, you can see how the level of debt varies among different fields, with students in the social sciences having the highest amounts. Unfortunately, the attrition rate in doctoral programs is about 50%, and the chart only summarizes debt for those who earned their PhD’s. The level of debt among those who dropped out is not included above.  Financial strain is one of the most common reasons for graduate school attrition, but there are resources to help you through this difficult time.  My next blog will cover graduate student funding options. Talk to you soon!

Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author, “The Smart Way to Your PhD: 200 Secrets from 100 Graduates.”
www.phdnet.org
dora@phdnet.org