As you may know, Christopher Pynes and I are currently in the process of preparing the 2017-2018 edition of the Philosophical Gourmet Report. There are some unintended delays in the process, owing to the transfer of technology, the learning curve, negotiating a new contract with Wiley-Blackwell, etc.
However, one thing that came up in our discussion was funding. Ph.D. and terminal-M.A. granting institutions have been encouraged by Brian years ago to make placement information available for prospective graduate students on their departmental websites. We hope that you will all make this information available this year if you have not done so already. This also applies to terminal M.A. programs. If you have a terminal M.A. program, the relevant placement information will be the Ph.D. programs (or law/medical schools, etc) that past students completing your program ended up going to.
Another request we would like to make is that Ph.D. and terminal-M.A. granting institutions provide a link on their departmental website that states what prospective students can expect in terms of funding. Here are some examples of questions we hope that you will be able to provide the answer to on your websites: Do admitted students receive a tuition and fee waiver? Do they receive a partial waiver? How much is the standard stipend provided for covering living expenses? What is the publicly announced cost of living for the city or town?
I know that some graduate programs use additional funding as an incentive for people to accept an offer at their program. But most Ph.D. and terminal-M.A. granting institutions should be able to provide a minimum amount of funding provided (or a mean or median amount), and perhaps other details.
While we think prospective graduate students should go to the M.A. program or the Ph.D. program that is the best fit for them (and that offers them a tuition waiver and some kind of stipend), we also know that this is not always realistic, even when students do get accepted into their preferred M.A. or Ph.D. program. Cost of living varies greatly from country to country and from city to city, and so do the private lives of prospective students. Some have families and children that they need to support. Some are single parents. Some are required to pay child support. Some have disabilities or other personal conditions that require expensive professional intervention, etc. Accordingly, making information about funding available to prospective graduate students is likely to be very helpful to them.
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