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> people who took out loans to achieve a PhD in a true STEM field

Most graduate STEM students have tuition reimbursed and are paid a stipend.

There is still a glut of post-docs though, and 42K isn't a living wage for a 30 year old person with that kind of skill.

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Wait, what?

I understand that there is a stipend to working in a lab while as a student (akin to being a TA), but while obtaining a PhD in a top program, I highly doubt tuition is reimbursed, and that still doesn't cover living expenses in a major metropolitan area. I mean, if you can name a Top 25 university from each San Fran, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Dallas that consistently provide PhD students tuition reimbursement and a stipend that enables a modestly reasonable quality of life, I'd really be interested. I'm a little tongue in cheek here but bear with my skepticism.

. . . but while obtaining a PhD in a top program, I highly doubt tuition is reimbursed

I'm with the GP here, your experience sounds very weird to me. Tuition remission is a pretty standard benefit, often handled by the department at the beginning, and then eventually by your advisor (but often by that point you're not taking much in the way of classes anyway.)

It's very, very rare that PhD students pay tuition in any reasonable science or engineering program.

That sounds strange. Pretty much all the top STEM PhD programs (MIT, Harvard, Stanford, etc.) offer a liveable stipend and full tuition reimbursement with medical insurance. e.g. MIT gives like $30k/yr, which is reasonable to live on in Boston, and we never pay a cent of tuition.

Yes, at least at the top tiers, you get paid enough to live on without an additional funding source. OTOH, $30K/year is usually several times less than a good graduate student could make in industry. While the pay is livable, it's difficult to argue that it's market rate. Or to put it another way, academic institutions don't value their employees in a way that's commensurate with their skill set.

Every single PhD Mathematics program I've ever heard of covers full tuition and provides a stipend for the full period of study for the vast majority of its students -- it isn't particularly generous, but it's livable if you're willing to be frugal and focus on your work. The problem is the opportunity cost of someone with mathematical capacity at a doctorate level barely breaking even for 4-6 years before they even begin their career.

> I highly doubt tuition is reimbursed, and that still doesn't cover living expenses in a major metropolitan area.

I went to a top school. Never paid a dime in tuition, and was paid 28K a year.

> I mean, if you can name a Top 25 university from each San Fran, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Dallas that consistently provide PhD students tuition reimbursement and a stipend that enables a modestly reasonable quality of life, I'd really be interested.

All of them.

You don't have a good program unless you do.

In fact, it is common advice to reject any offers that don't include a tuition waver. It signals that the candidate didn't really meet the department's standards, but that an exception will be made if they are independently wealthy.

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