stipend?!?

[shimma]

you mean you get money to go to grad school? how does that work? why don't they just reduce the tuition by whatever your stipend is?

[wordsmith]

Depends on the program and the school.

[SmilesSoSweet]

My brother did this. He managed to go to NYU for grad school for free, and still get a stipend. He was a resident advisor so I think that's how he got his stipend. He also had free rent. So it was like he was getting paid to go to school (that SOB! LOL j/k)

He still took out student loans because the stipend wasn't enough to pay for his other stuff (books, food, etc.) and he was using some of his low interest student loans to pay off his much higher credit card debt.

[labrat2111]

you mean you get money to go to grad school? how does that work? why don't they just reduce the tuition by whatever your stipend is?

Because (at least in engineering and the sciences) your grad advisor is paying both your stipend and tuition out of funding he obtains external to the school (NSF, NIH, petroleum research fund, private companies, etc).

[wordsmith]

Similarly, I've been looking at a graduate program specifically open to people who've spent a year or more in national volunteer programs, it's entirely humanities-based. The funding for it comes through outfits like AmeriCorps, so that's where the living stipend originates, rather than with the institution.

[Brillo25]

My grad program had one of those too. As long as you did an assistantship, your tuition was free and you got a piddly stipend that didn't cover living expenses, at least not for the frugally-challenged like myself. And it didn't cover rent, so the program still got costly.

[yankeeyosh]

Stipends are generally given to grad students to either do research, to teach, or to do departmental work. Mostly, they are given in humanities or science programs...it's extremely rare to find them in MBA or "professional degree" programs. Depending on the program and where you live, it might actually be enough to live on OK. Mine was on the "high end" of stipends ($17-18K), and I lived in a city with a low COL (e.g., my rent was $337), so I was a prime example of this. However, if I went to U-Washington or a school in a high cost of living area, it would have probably been different. Nevertheless, it's pretty good...I actually know someone whose stipend was $40K! :eek: (mind you, he is an uber-genius).

[embrassezla]

Yep, I attended grad school for free via assistantship (Master's program in Math Dept). It paid tuition in full, gave me about a $1K/mo stipend, and I was required to work 20hrs/week. It worked out fine, covered rent & food, but not much else.

[steph78]

I attended grad school for free and got paid as well - this was 5-6 years ago, but I got full tuition waived, and then got about $15-16,000/year which was easily enough to live on if I shared an apartment and kept my "fun" spending within a certain limit. In exchange, I had to teach two sections of an undergraduate engineering class each semester (and grade papers, hold office hours, etc. etc.) My assistantship money came from the university (it's a state school). My husband has a similar deal but he is doing research instead of teaching. After passing the PhD qualifying exams he now gets about $26,000/year instead of the lower amount that master's students get. His money comes from external research grants (places like NASA, etc.)

I think most of my classmates in grad school (in civil engineering) were on assistantships - these deals are readily available in science/engineering fields. The only people that weren't on assistantship were some of the international students and also some people who were working full-time and taking only one or two classes each semester (probably partially paid for by their employer).

[analogman]

There are three ways that I know of:

First is if you work for the university (TA/grader/etc) they reduce the tuition (you get an employee rate) and pay you (for the work you are doing). Some people are admitted with an offer of guaranteed part-time job with the university. I think all majors have this.

Second is if you work for a professor (research assistant). The professor pays both you and the university for you (full-tuition, expensive for international students at state schools). The professor pays with money from research grants. This is more common in science/engineering.

Third is if you are super smart and they give you money straight up (i.e. a fellowship). This is like a scholarship that pays tuition and living expenses. I think all majors get this.

Final random thought: MBAs, JDs, and MDs almost never have free money.

[wordsmith]

Yup, FAR more common in academic programs than professional.