Thursday, August 16, 2012

Stipends for Graduate Students

Here's what we pay our slaves graduate students while they are working toward their degrees. How does it compare with other biochemistry departments?

Biochemistry Graduate Student Stipends for 2012-2013

M.Sc. students

Domestic Students
$17,000 living allowance plus tuition ($7,160.00) and incidental fees ($1,241.52) = $25,401.52

International Students
$17,000 living allowance plus tuition ($16,886.00) and incidental fees ($1,241.52) AND UHIP ($684.00) = $35,811.52

Ph.D. students

Domestic Students
$19,000 living allowance plus tuition ($7,160.00) and incidental fees ($1,241.52) = $27,401.52

International Students
$19,000 living allowance plus tuition ($16,886.00) and incidental fees ($1,241.52) AND UHIP ($684.00) = $37,811.52

(UHIP is the University Health Insurance Plan)

My graduate student stipend in 1968 was $3000, which is $19,500 in 2012 dollars. I don't remember how much tuition and the health plan cost. We lived in subsidized housing, The rent was $56 per month.

We have about 140 graduate students in our department. Many of them are in the photo along with several much older "students" who earn a lot more money.


5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Just as Greek writes sigma as σ in the middle of a word, and as ς at the end of a word, it's getting so people are using s and 's respectively.

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    2. I didn't write "fee's," I copied it from an email message and didn't notice the typo.

      I appreciate it when people notice spelling mistakes and typos in my posts but I'd prefer if you just draw my attention to a typo rather than imply that I don't understand fundamental English grammar and spelling conventions.

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  2. I expect that the text you had copied was written by somebody younger than either of us, and I was making the observation that—for some people—conventions are changing, that the 's was intentional, and not viewed as a typo by the original writer.

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  3. The Biochemistry Department at the University of Toronto pays its graduate students a stipend plus tuition? Is that right?

    My experience as a graduate student at other Canadian universities has not included that feature. As a M.Sc. student at Simon Fraser University (Department of Biological Sciences), I was paid approximately $18,000 / year, and had to pay tuition (around $3000, if I remember correctly) out of that. At the University of Guelph as a PhD student (Department of Integrative Biology) I was paid a little more (somewhere around $21,000) and again paid tuition out of that. Now I'm at the University of Saskatchewan (Department of Soil Science), where I started at $20,000 (paying about $3000 in tuition) but I was fortunate enough to be awarded an NSERC CGS-D scholarship, so I am currently paid by NSERC $35,000 plus $3000 to cover tuition (actual tuition + other fees each year runs to around $4500).

    I'm curious how many science departments across Canada completely or partially cover the tuition costs for their graduate students, and under what circumstances - my $3000 / year "tuition cover" is only because I am receiving a Tri-Council award.

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