Financial support of graduate education

The average number of years for a graduate student to complete their program has been increasing over the last several decades. The Council of Graduate Schools explains this trend in part by noting that lack of financial support, especially during the dissertation phase, leads to a significant increase in time to degree. At best, graduate students stipends amount to about $1,100 per month (many students receive less or nothing at all), even if we include about $150 for insurance, support amounts to less than $15,000 per year. In addition, the majority of students must seek other employment during summers. The stipend is not a grant or fellowship, but is provided for vital teaching and research services rendered by graduate students. In order to be employed, however, students must pay tuition and fees of $3600 per year. As a result, the real income of a Texas graduate student is about $11,400; put another way, this amounts to just a little over minimum wage, at $5.15 per hour. By way of comparison, the average per capita income per year in the poorest counties of the state of Texas is $13,216. Thus, graduate students make less than the per person average pay of the poorest counties of Texas.

Although precise figures are difficult to come by, the lack of adequate financial support can only exacerbate key problems of graduate and undergraduate education in Texas. Graduate students who work extra jobs to make ends meet are clearly more likely to take longer to finish their programs. In addition, students working second jobs have less time to devote to their research and teaching. Already many programs are noting a significant decline in the number of matriculations. Department chairs increasingly report that students are rejecting Texas universities due to the lack of full financial compensation. Again, this lack of support sharply limits the ability of Texas universities to attract the finest educators and researchers. Peer institutions around the country, for example, have long waived tuition in order to attract the highest caliber students; worst still, Texas universities rank last in stipends among top state universities. Increased financial support for Texas graduate students in the form of a full tuition waiver would ensure that Texas universities can continue to provide quality undergraduate education and research programs. Without this compensation, the academic excellence of these programs, both on the graduate and undergraduate level, will decline. As educators, researchers, and tax-paying citizens, graduate students have helped to build a first class education system for the citizens of Texas. They deserve full and adequate compensation for their efforts. University administrators and state legislators need to initiate public policies to increase the financial support of graduate education here in Texas.