No Funding at St. John's University (clinical psychology PhD)

[jumare]

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Posting to warn any potential applicants for clinical psychology PhD programs to NOT apply to St. John's University in Queens, NY, unless you want to go into debt.

Our funding situation has always been pretty bad, but it’s recently become dire.

Until now, most PhD students were guaranteed 3 years of tuition remission and a $16k/year stipend (which is already abysmal for NYC; and includes no health insurance). In the 4th year, most students are expected to pay full tuition out of pocket and receive no stipend.

Now, without warning, the upper-level administration has cut our funding significantly. This was not a decision made in collaboration with the department; the psychology department itself was caught completely off guard. Starting immediately, only 9 credits per semester will be covered during the first three years, even though students are required to take 15 credits per semester in the first two years. That means 6 credits per semester must now be paid out of pocket per semester. In addition, the 3 summer credits after the 1st and 2nd years are no longer covered. Altogether, this adds up to 15 credits per year that students must now pay for themselves—which amounts to about $90,000/year.

What is happening at this school is insulting to what it means to be a PhD student and is disrespectful to the profession. This program also has a ton of other issues beyond this funding situation. Please do not waste your time applying here. Feel free to DM if you have any questions about the program.

 

[WisNeuro]

Posting to warn any potential applicants for clinical psychology PhD programs to NOT apply to St. John's University in Queens, NY, unless you want to go into debt.

Our funding situation has always been pretty bad, but it’s recently become dire.

Until now, most PhD students were guaranteed 3 years of tuition remission and a $16k/year stipend (which is already abysmal for NYC; and includes no health insurance). In the 4th year, most students are expected to pay full tuition out of pocket and receive no stipend.

Now, without warning, the upper-level administration has cut our funding significantly. This was not a decision made in collaboration with the department; the psychology department itself was caught completely off guard. Starting immediately, only 9 credits per semester will be covered during the first three years, even though students are required to take 15 credits per semester in the first two years. That means 6 credits per semester must now be paid out of pocket per semester. In addition, the 3 summer credits after the 1st and 2nd years are no longer covered. Altogether, this adds up to 15 credits per year that students must now pay for themselves—which amounts to about $90,000/year.

What is happening at this school is insulting to what it means to be a PhD student and is disrespectful to the profession. This program also has a ton of other issues beyond this funding situation. Please do not waste your time applying here. Feel free to DM if you have any questions about the program.

I'd get ready for more of this in the next few years. Federal funds decreasing for higher education, particularly with research. States facing some bigger budget shortfalls, which will worsen with Medicaid cuts, so less money to go around overall.

 

[R. Matey]

ow, without warning, the upper-level administration has cut our funding significantly. This was not a decision made in collaboration with the department; the psychology department itself was caught completely off guard. Starting immediately, only 9 credits per semester will be covered during the first three years, even though students are required to take 15 credits per semester in the first two years. That means 6 credits per semester must now be paid out of pocket per semester. In addition, the 3 summer credits after the 1st and 2nd years are no longer covered. Altogether, this adds up to 15 credits per year that students must now pay for themselves—which amounts to about $90,000/year.

Sorry to hear this, and I appreciate you warning students. It sounds like the funding mechanisms were mostly TA-ships, no?

 

[cara susanna]

That is a bummer, I once attended a workshop with some St. Johns students and was very impressed by their training.

 

[jumare]

Sorry to hear this, and I appreciate you warning students. It sounds like the funding mechanisms were mostly TA-ships, no?

Yep that's correct. Most get funding by being a "doctoral research fellow," which just means you are assigned to a faculty member and have to do research with them. Others get funding by being TAs for courses or by working at our clinic and doing prelim screenings for therapy/assessment cases. Some folks are able to maintain more consistent funding through grants in certain labs, but this is only a small fraction of each cohort. The tuition remission that comes as a result of this funding is also at risk of being cut. Won't be surprised if this becomes a de facto PsyD program.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I guess when I accrued a bunch of debt for my doctorate, I was just ahead of my time. Sort of kidding as I write another check to pay the endless debt. I do think that the days of predominantly having psychologists with PhDs from fully funded programs is shifting. Whether that is good or bad or different degrees of both and what it will mean as our profession moves forward is a good discussion to have.