Is the stipend enough?

[Nalfien]

I saved about $600 a month, after taxes!

Cause he's a geek. I bought a big screen TV and an Xbox and a home theater system. That's how graduate school stipends should be spent!

[Golden Rule]

My stipend in NYC was $21G this past academic year and I earned another $7G on summer RA work. It's been fine, though I only buy things that don't have cheaper substitutes. I still fit in one real vacation (i.e. not somewhere else on the east coast) every summer. I can't go drinking downtown every night or gambling in Vegas every year with my friends from college that just finished law school. But I survive.

[commodore]

Cause he's a geek. I bought a big screen TV and an Xbox and a home theater system. That's how graduate school stipends should be spent!

And how'd that macro comp go, buddy?

Just kidding. Nalfien has a sweet apartment and some super nice stuff, so I don't blame him for how he spent his money! I just prefer to save mine to buy lots and lots of pizza.

[puecon]

The standard 2007-2008 stipend for all doctoral programs at Krannert School of Management (Purdue) was about 17,000 for the whole year. This is before tax. I suppose taxes added up to 1,500 or so. In addition, you need to subtract about $2,500 per year for various university fees, health insurance, and dental insurance. After taxes and these fees, you end up with approximately $1100 per month, on average, that you can actually spend on personal expenses. It turns out that this is enough for comfortable but modest graduate life in West Lafayette. If you share a two bedroom apartment with another student, prepare at least one meal per day on your own, and spend your money moderately, you could probably save $1,500-$2,000 per year. If you don't have a car, then that could save you additional $1000 per year in car insurance, gas, and car maintenance expenses. Fortunately, the university is recognizing that the stipends are too low to compete with the more affluent universities for the best students, and so there is a talk now about increasing our stipends in future:

Purdue wants to attract more graduate students -- chicagotribune.com

[italos]

At Luis uni at Rome the doctoral fellowship is approximately 10500 euros per year.I doubt if you manage to leave in Rome for 12 months with such earning....

[asa_sl]

good topic.

[econstudent311]

At Yale, we got $28,700 our first year (the new first years now get $36,000!!!).

Wow, the new first years are making more than NSF fellows! So I wonder if that mean if you get an NSF you should turn down the fellowship money if you're at Yale...

[econstudent311]

Double post