Graduate School Money IV – Revenge of the PhD

July 19, 2007 at 12:08 pm | | grad life, stipends

After reading Charles’ excellent summary, I ran around our lab @ Columbia and surveyed the grad students:

Subject A – Biochemistry Graduate Student

Base salary: ~$28,000
After taxes: ~$24,000

  • Medical insurance covered by Columbia.
  • Monthly Transportation Cost: $100 for MetroCard and occasional taxi
  • Columbia subsidized studio: $900/mo
  • Basic cell phone plan: $55/mo
  • Monthly food expense: $300

Disposable income: $7,740/yr or $645/mo

Subject B – Biology Graduate Student

Base salary: $27,600
After taxes: ~$23,500

  • Medical insurance covered by Columbia.
  • Monthly Transportation Cost: $90 for MetroCard
  • Columbia subsidized apartment share: $770/mo
  • Basic cell phone plan: $55/mo
  • Monthly food expense: $400

Disposable income: $7,720/yr or $643/mo

There you have it – two very consistent data points. Even though the cost of living in NYC is greater than Palo Alto, generous student housing subsidies and inclusion of medical insurance make their disposable income greater than what you have.

3 Comments »

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  1. Graduate School Money in Champaign IL.
    1450$/month after taxes – looks shitty doesn’t it?.
    But wait…

    Health Insurance Covered
    Free Public Transportation
    Mortgage on Two bdrm 1.5 bath 1000sqft. condo: 650$
    Condo Assoc. Fee: 70$
    Cell Phone:60$
    Food: 150$ (it’s much cheaper here!)
    Cable & Internet 90$

    Comment by Steve Higgins — July 19, 2007 #

  2. Hey folks, let’s do a little informal survey of how much various departments/schools pay their students and how that compares to the cost of living.

    Comment by ilya — July 19, 2007 #

  3. Northwestern University (Chicago, IL):
    Stipend: ~$24,000
    Taxes (state and federal ca. 12.5%): $3,000
    Health Insurance: $950/year
    Public Transit: ~$240/year
    Phone: ~$600/year
    Internet: $360/year
    Rent: $5000/year (or $420/month although I live in a dump with
    a bunch of russians–most places are $550-700/mo.)
    Utilities: $600/year
    Food: ~$3000/year

    That leaves $10,250 or $854/month in disposable income.

    Comment by anon — July 23, 2007 #

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