Get Paid To Get A Ph.D. Degree?

 

Students are often confused at the realization that graduate students get paid to get a Ph.D. degree.

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

Yes, you can get paid to get a doctorate (Ph.D.) degree. Additionally, there is no tuition cost. Tuition is often waived for state residents. I include the last statement since international students do have some fees.

For example, let’s say that an undergraduate student at California State University at San Bernandino is deciding whether to pursue a Master’s degree at the same university or go to another university that offers a doctorate (i.e., Ph.D.). 

Time In School?

First and foremost, historically, the Master’s degree is a one-two year degree. At the same time, a Ph.D. is longer — around 5–6 years. I will discuss the additional length briefly below required for a doctorate.

How Many Classes?

The amount of classes required for each degree does not differ by much in most cases. I say does not differ by much because that is dependent on the subject matter. Typically, the required course load for both degrees (M.A. or Ph.D.) can be accomplished in under two years (in most cases, even one year. In sciences, obtaining a degree specializing in ‘material science’ could have an additional course load (the University of California at Irvine — Chemistry Department) is one such example. 

Why Does A Graduate Student Get Paid?

This question naturally follows the others above. For a doctorate, there are two avenues of funding that occurs during the entire process. In short, you either get paid to be a T.A. or a graduate researcher. What does this mean? After completing the short coursework required for the degree, the remaining time spent on obtaining the degree is through completing research in your area of study.

What does that mean? You get paid to do research work (i.e., laboratory work) as a graduate student. Each day you wake up and go to the lab and try to conduct research experiments. Similar (in nature) to the laboratory experiments that you did as an undergraduate degree. Except with a large probability of failure. Yes — failure. That is why you have 5–6 years to complete the necessary experiments. To try different possibilities.

Back to the paycheck. If you get paid to be a T.A. — Teaching Assistant — you get paid to teach a laboratory. Monitor undergraduate student completing their ‘general chemistry laboratory experiments required for the class. This time is taken from the time allotted for obtaining your degree. This is why most students would like to work for a (Ph.D. advisor) who has funding to pay the student as a graduate researcher instead. Here is a short video to explain the differences in funding further.

Graduate student researchers get paid out of their Ph.D. advisor’s research funding. Why would their Ph.D. advisors do this? One such reason might be to get research results quickly, as grant funding has deadlines. More about this in later blog posts. 

Take Home Message?

Your tuition is waived as a science graduate student (and other selected primary areas of study). Second, you get paid to do research. For example, I was paid in 2004 at the University of California at Riverside with a monthly salary of $1700. That was enough to pay rent and survive to get to the lab. And last but not least, you can apply for graduate student loans if needed, which are much more significant (more funding) than compared to undergraduate loans. Note: Ensure your loans are ‘federal loans’ and not sourced from a ‘private company. This increases your bargaining power and reduces unwanted interest rate hikes or payment adjustments that can skyrocket.

For more, see other blog posts coming soon.