Can someone explain stipends to me?

[Midoritori]

So I am a non-traditional student and very new to this all.

Thinking about going back or a PsyD or Phd in psychology.

Some schools that offer PhD say "stipend first three years". What does this mean? Am I working for them to get this stipend during the first three years? Or am I just taking classes? In other words am I doing anything other than taking classes/ studying to get this? Sorry if this sounds like such a stupid question.

I'm assuming we are working the whole time offering our services to the university to teach or do research for them. in exchange they pay our tuition. Is this right?

Do they ever have this kind of thing for PsyD programs?

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[ClinicalABA]

So I am a non-traditional student and very new to this all.

Thinking about going back or a PsyD or Phd in psychology.

Some schools that offer PhD say "stipend first three years". What does this mean? Am I working for them to get this stipend during the first three years? Or am I just taking classes? In other words am I doing anything other than taking classes/ studying to get this? Sorry if this sounds like such a stupid question.

I'm assuming we are working the whole time offering our services to the university to teach or do research for them. in exchange they pay our tuition. Is this right?

Do they ever have this kind of thing for PsyD programs?

Stipends are generally given for two different things- work as a TA for an undergraduate course, or work as a research assistant for a professor. You can also get a stipend for a paid clinical practica. In my program, full time stipend was for 20 hours work. This was in addition to coursework and personal research. Full time stipend work (or equivalent through outside practica) qualified you for tuition reimbursement. Much more common in PhD programs than psyd programs, and almost unheard of in FSPS psyd programs.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Stipends are generally given for two different things- work as a TA for an undergraduate course, or work as a research assistant for a professor. You can also get a stipend for a paid clinical practica. In my program, full time stipend was for 20 hours work. This was in addition to coursework and personal research. Full time stipend work (or equivalent through outside practica) qualified you for tuition reimbursement. Much more common in PhD programs than psyd programs, and almost unheard of in FSPS psyd programs.

Yep, exactly. To add to this, in the example you (Midoritori) mention RE: "stipend first three years," it may mean that the stipend is guaranteed for the first three years, and after that depends on availability. My program, for example, guaranteed funding for the first four years. However, I never knew any of my peers (or myself) to not have funding no matter what year they were; it sometimes just required a bit more finagling (e.g., combining multiple part-time placements).

 

[bmedclinic]

Yep, exactly. To add to this, in the example you (Midoritori) mention RE: "stipend first three years," it may mean that the stipend is guaranteed for the first three years, and after that depends on availability. My program, for example, guaranteed funding for the first four years. However, I never knew any of my peers (or myself) to not have funding no matter what year they were; it sometimes just required a bit more finagling (e.g., combining multiple part-time placements).

very similar experience. I think mine was guaranteed for 3 years, and after that almost all students got a stipend. Those that didnt, their lack of a stipend was based more on their own extenuating circmustances and may have been a motivational signal, e.g. "you're four years in, please complete your thesis."
My stipends were based on my main advisor's research, being a TA for a huge class, an instructor for a smaller class, and a clinical practicum. Though I still took out some loans, I pretty rarely paid tuition during my doctoral work.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

very similar experience. I think mine was guaranteed for 3 years, and after that almost all students got a stipend. Those that didnt, their lack of a stipend was based more on their own extenuating circmustances and may have been a motivational signal, e.g. "you're four years in, please complete your thesis."
My stipends were based on my main advisor's research, being a TA for a huge class, an instructor for a smaller class, and a clinical practicum. Though I still took out some loans, I pretty rarely paid tuition during my doctoral work.

Yep, exactly. Our professors were great about finding funding for those folks who needed it. Generally, students would have a TA-ship as their funding source for the first year or two, and would then either move on to clinically-based funding (e.g., university clinic or stipend from a training grant at one of the local hospitals), would grab an RA spot on their advisor's grant, or would be an instructor of record and teach their own class. TA spots were primarily reserved for the lower-year students to help acclimate them, as those typically involved the lightest workloads.