If your PhD program was funded, how much debt did you really take on?

[LaceyLPC]

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I'm planning to apply for PhD programs for the Fall 2019 cycle. I was lucky enough to get all my undergrad student loans forgiven, so I'm starting at zero dollars. If your PhD was fully funded, how much debt can I realistically expect to retake on? Thanks.

 

[WisNeuro]

Really depends on your geographic area and if you have a side gig. I lived in an affordable Midwest city, and did some testing on the side for a research study. I had 0 in grad school debt. Gonna be way different if you live in say NYC or San Fran, of course.

 

[LaceyLPC]

Really depends on your geographic area and if you have a side gig. I lived in an affordable Midwest city, and did some testing on the side for a research study. I had 0 in grad school debt. Gonna be way different if you live in say NYC or San Fran, of course.

I am looking at Midwestern schools, mostly. I grew up in Missouri, and am still there. Right now Oklahoma State and St. Louis University are on my list. Still looking.

 

[futurehopefully]

Really also depends on what your stipend is as well, but they usually aren't a lot. Especially in lower CoL areas.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

0 debt accrued in doctoral training. Midwest city, college town with low rent and a roommate. I had peers that accrued debt b/c they wanted to live alone and in fancier apartments. My values skewed differently.

 

[WisNeuro]

0 debt accrued in doctoral training. Midwest city, college town with low rent and a roommate. I had peers that accrued debt b/c they wanted to live alone and in fancier apartments. My values skewed differently.

Likewise. Those of us with roommates had little to no debt in my program. A handful wanted to live alone in a luxury apartment in the best neighborhood. They accrued much more debt.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Midwest program. 0 debt.

I lived alone but made choices that fit my life in other ways, including working hard to ensure I had a better paying RA and working a second research job. These choices weren't just because I wanted to live alone, but also enabled me to do so.

 

[Psychchick09]

I am looking at Midwestern schools, mostly. I grew up in Missouri, and am still there. Right now Oklahoma State and St. Louis University are on my list. Still looking.

Saint Louis university is not fully funded, with the exception of Diversity fellowships, which I admittedly know less about, but most of the people I knew who went there had to take out loans to cover tuition/general living expenses.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Zero debt, lived alone but lived cheaply.

 

[Sanman]

I had about 50-60k, but it could be done on less. I was in a moderate cost of living area in the south, our stipends were on the low end at that time, and I have a chronic medical condition that necessitated some extra living costs.

 

[deleted106747]

Fully funded but stipend was not enough to cover the cost of living. I took out more than I should have, and am fortunate to have dodged a bullet by getting my loans repaid. I like to post on here as much as I can about avoiding taking on too much debt for this degree, because I've been on both sides of it (trying to pay off student debt and then also having no debt).

 

[tofubam]

$0 graduate school debt - funded PhD program in NY State. My stipend started out at 12,500 (!) per year and rose to $18,500 by the time I was ready to go off on internship. It was doable since my rent was $450 per month.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Western US R1 school in a decent city. Lived with roommates for several years and alone the last year. My stipend was pretty good, but I still did work side jobs related to psych (brief assessments, research, adjuncting, consulting) to help pay the bills (and boost the CV). Came out with minimal loans < $10,000. I lived extremely cheaply which also helped. To be honest, most of my debt came from the internship year and all the costs associated with that.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Western US R1 school in a decent city. Lived with roommates for several years and alone the last year. My stipend was pretty good, but I still did work side jobs related to psych (brief assessments, research, adjuncting, consulting) to help pay the bills (and boost the CV). Came out with minimal loans < $10,000. I lived extremely cheaply which also helped. To be honest, most of my debt came from the internship year and all the costs associated with that.

It's amazing how much internship can cost despite the perpetual myth that "you'll be so much better off". Moving, applications, interviewing, paying for credits, utility startup fees, etc all for not a totally different figure that some stipends after tax.

 

[Sanman]

It's amazing how much internship can cost despite the perpetual myth that "you'll be so much better off". Moving, applications, interviewing, paying for credits, utility startup fees, etc all for not a totally different figure that some stipends after tax.

I found internship and post-doc/pre-licensure periods the toughest as you lose student protections, but are not making real money. Being able to move back in with family during post-doc was my saving grace.

 

[WisNeuro]

I found internship and post-doc/pre-licensure periods the toughest as you lose student protections, but are not making real money. Being able to move back in with family during post-doc was my saving grace.

What do you mean by student protections? As for internship, I actually matched in the same city as my grad program, so I kept a roommate from my program and my costs didn't change while my income went up. I did move cross country for post-doc, but moving costs were minimal and it wasn't a full salary, but it was easy to live on 50k after what I was used to in grad school and internship.

 

[Sanman]

What do you mean by student protections? As for internship, I actually matched in the same city as my grad program, so I kept a roommate from my program and my costs didn't change while my income went up. I did move cross country for post-doc, but moving costs were minimal and it wasn't a full salary, but it was easy to live on 50k after what I was used to in grad school and internship.

Tuition remission (I paid for credits while finishing my dissertation post-internship, but was not considered full-time), student health clinic/affordable health insurance, loans starting to come do, etc. I also moved to a more expensive area, but it was home for me.

 

[Pragma]

I went to a fully-funded Ph.D. program in a very expensive area. The stipend didn't come close to covering rent. I lived with my S/O but still took out some debt to help cover living expenses, and did a little bit of moonlighting.

In hindsight, I think that I could have planned better than I did or have made some additional sacrifices. But, we managed to pay off my S/O's undergraduate loans during the process and both of our incomes are high enough now that the remaining loan payment is very manageable (i.e., did not prevent us from buying a home or car, or having kids, or taking vacations).

 

[cara susanna]

I didn't take on any debt, but I had some money from a family friend. Later, I also had a partner who worked full time and an adjuncting gig that was salaried.

 

[bcliff]

~$15k in low-mod cost of living city, mostly to cover moving costs and costs incurred during the adjustment to receiving a 50% pay cut from an RA job to PhD stipend -- managed to dramatically increase funding through clinical and research positions a few years into my training, at which point i started paying this amount off aggressively. all debt should be paid off within a couple years of graduating, if not sooner.

 

[Lurking Oracle]

Fully funded PhD program in a large midwest city: zero debt from grad school (or from undergrad, FWIW). Had an SO with me first year, then a roomie after the SO split, and then a new SO (whom I eventually married!)