AMERICA'S BEST GRADUATE SCHOOL STIPENDS *2009-2010 EDITION*
SALARIES FOR PhD CANDIDATES IN THE BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

Sorry for the lack of updates - boy the holidays are rough. More stipends and new site coming soon!

Last update: 01.04.10 23:15 EST. Get updates on Twitter: @wendypedia or twitter.com/wendypedia

This is the 2009-2010 edition of America's Best Graduate School Stipends - or How Much Money It Takes to Lure Aspiring Biomedical Scientists into a PhD Program.

THE 30K CLUB: In the academic year 2009-10, over-$30K stipend club includes the New York City trifecta: Gerstner Sloan-Kettering, Rockefeller, and Weill Cornell Medical College. So far, Gerstner Sloan-Kettering has the highest PhD stipend with $32,155 in 2009-10 and an impressive benefits package. However, Rockefeller (technically #3 at $31,600) takes the Best Graduate Stipend Award with its $2,500 annual research allowance ($3,000 starting in year 3) and $1,000 relocation allowance and membership in the New York Academy of Sciences and subsidized housing in New York's Upper East Side and $5,000 bonus for students with external funding and I still can't believe I turned down Rockefeller when I got accepted.

The Sackler Institute at New York University, which paid California-like stipends for years ($27,000 for both 2007-08 and 2008-09), finally shakes its 2nd-tier stipend status and soars into the $30K club at $31,000. Columbia University will also join the elite NYC schools with annual stipends of $30,000. Unbeknownst to me, a stipend offered at Boston University actually reached $30K in 2008-9 - but just like its home city, where five different streets are named Washington Street, Boston University always had about 5 different stipend levels. This year, I'm settling on Boston University Medical Center's 2010-9 stipend - which is listed at $30,500 (and increases to an impressive $31,500 for those who have passed the qualifying exam).

THE 50K ADJUSTED CLUB: Smaller cities boast lower costs of living - which means that a PhD student can actually live quite comfortably on a stipend. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) will reportedly offer a stipend of $29,200, which is notable because this equals a whopping $50,552 in New York City, according to the Best Places cost-of-living calculator. New to the list, University of Mississippi Medical Center reports a 2009-10 PhD stipend of $24,150. That's $58,906 in New York dollars. FIFTY. EIGHT. THOUSAND. NINE. HUNDRED...ok, that's a lot of money for a graduate student. Other schools with over-$50K adjusted stipends include University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Washington University, and University of Rochester Medical Center. The generous $27,500 stipend of the Tulane Biomedical Sciences (BMS) program, when adjusted to NYC dollars, is just $37 shy of $50,000. This is probably within the margin of error of this particular salary calculator, so Tulane gets inducted into the $50K adjusted club

HONORABLE MENTION: Clemson University is definitely an underdog at $18,000/year for biological science teaching assistants. However, the dollar goes a long way in this city of 12,000 people - and a Clemson-to-NYC adjustment raises this stipend to well over $30K. Furthermore, The Scientist magazine declared Clemson University one of the top three Best Places to Work in Academia in 2007. Go Tigers!

According to Forbes.com, the 10 Most Affordable Places to Live Well are 1) Minneapolis, 2) Indianapolis, 3) Cincinnati, 4) St. Louis, 5) Houston, 6) Milwaukee, 7) Dallas, 8) Pittsburgh, 9) Columbus OH, and 10) Atlanta. If you want a lot of bang for you grad school buck, you may want to do your PhD in one of these cities.

Emory University also deserves a nod. In the aforementioned Forbes survey, Atlanta was named the 10th Most Affordable Places to Live Well in the nation. Atlanta was also ranked by Forbes as the 4th Fastest-Growing City (not necessarily a good thing) and the 4th Best City for Singles (definitely a good thing). Moreover, Emory University has been selected as one of America's 25 New Elite 'Ivies" by Newsweek, and offers a staggering array of fellowships.

BIG SCHOOLS, SMALL (OR NO) RAISES: Previously, I projected that Harvard University would finally be inducted into the $30K Hall of Fame for the 2008-9 year. When that didn't happen, I was confident that they would break $30K in 2009-10. Wrong again! Still stinging after its endowment plunged $8 billion dollars to a "paltry" $36.9 billion, Harvard recently announced budget cuts - which apparently allowed a mere $192 stipend increase for the whole year. That's a raise of $16/month, $4/week, $0.80/day, or about $0.10/hour for an unrealistic 40-hour graduate student work week. If that sounds rough, it looks like many programs aren't even raising stipends in 2009-10 - notably state-funded schools. However, to remain appealing to prospective graduate students despite no increases in base stipend, some schools are allowing stipend increases (paid by advisers) once students commit to thesis laboratories. One such example is SUNY Downstate, where students can receive up to 20% above the minimum stipend levels once they enter thesis labs.

BLEAK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: In the 2005 stipend report, I cited a CNNmoney story that called academic science research one of the "Big Jobs That Pay Badly." You know what else pays badly? Unemployment. With the economy in ruins and national unemployent rates currently hovering around 10%, a guaranteed stipend (with free or subsidized health insurance) is not a bad alternative to being jobless. The economy will probably fix itself by the time you earn your PhD - so heed the wise words of Mr. T:

Remember, it's not about the money - it's about the science. Right?

Below is a list of 2009-10 stipends for PhD programs in the biological and biomedical sciences¹ with adjusted stipends² and fringe benefits³ (which are taken into consideration for tie breaks). If necessary, further tie breaks are purely subjective. Do you have stipend information to report? Please email me at wendychao (AT) post.harvard.edu. This site will be updated regularly.

New York University

Boston University Medical Center

Princeton University

$25,480

$25,480

University of Louisville, School of Medicine

University of Arizona

Washington State University

Michigan State University

Oregon State University