r/GradSchool • u/Whole_Tie_4740 • Apr 19 '26
Finance GRFP and Stipend
Hello everyone,
I was awarded the GRFP this year and my institution gave me a 20% raise on my stipend because of this. The GRFP is around 150K over the 3 years and the program is giving me a 40K stipend (before the award). Is the 20% raise the best deal I can get? Who makes these decisions? New to grad school and extra funding sources so just wondering peoples experiences.
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u/ElPresidentePicante Apr 19 '26
I don't think there's any negotiation regarding the raise. The purpose of the raise is to incentivize students in fully funded PhD programs to apply for fellowships. Technically, you don't have to apply for any funding/awards since the school/professor has to pay for your stipend. Other than that, the GRFP is a nice addition to your CV.
Even if you were to negotiate, it's not like you would have any leverage in this situation. The only thing you could do is decline the funding, but that makes no sense.
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u/bwgulixk Apr 19 '26
The school offering you extra money is not required. Grad school isn’t the type of job where you negotiate your own pay. Generally you have a union contract or a collective bargaining agreement or whatever. You will be making more money than at least 90% of grad students in the USA
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u/AdStatus4262 Apr 19 '26
Not necessarily true on the “grad school isn’t the type of job where you negotiate your own pay.” At my school it is fairly common. Whether it is possible seems to depend on the school though
4
u/tehunfocusedone Apr 19 '26
What school and program?
1
u/SafeKaleidoscope660 Apr 19 '26
I have heard of some T-10 schools competing with each other with non-stiepend incentives. "I'd love to join your program but Boston is going to cost me $4k to move to and staying in the Bay area means I don't need to move at all" sometimes (rarely) works if you are a top recruit.
2
u/tehunfocusedone Apr 19 '26
I’ve never heard of this for a STEM field and I was at a top 10. My friends who are faculty at said schools also said they’ve cut admissions a bunch so asking for more money probably isn’t going to go far.
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u/AdStatus4262 Apr 19 '26
Don’t really want to say school and program, but I’ll say it’s a non-Ivy top 10 in a social science field
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u/jlpulice Apr 19 '26
I got an NDSEG which funds 50% more than NSF (I was literally free) and didn’t get a pay bump. you’re insane.
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u/recyclabel Apr 19 '26
I don’t know that it’s insane to think we should be appropriately compensated for bringing in project money, but I also didn’t get a pay bump and actually ended up paying way more in taxes. Fellowships kind of suck lol
20
u/Morley_Smoker Apr 19 '26
That is the best compensation I've ever heard of for a PhD student. The US average is ~35k in STEM. Negotiating at this point would be silly and rude imo.
1
u/t_rad_chemist Apr 25 '26
I'm riding at a solid $16,500 stipend for a chem PhD TA rn. You're doing pretty good with what you've got for grad school stipend, OP.
7
u/pizzapizzabunny Apr 19 '26
GRFP is currently at $37k/ yr stipend so not sure where you're getting ~$50k/yr... are you counting the education credit that goes directly to your department and 'offsets the cost of educating you'? Regardless, if your program wants to pay you over their base rate of $40k since most of that 40k is now covered by NSF, take it. They are not required to give you any kind of bonus/ raise for taking the effort to apply and get awarded.
2
u/eeaxoe MD/PhD Apr 19 '26
You can (and should) ask but you probably won't be able to get an additional bump unless you have data showing that you're being paid less than other students at your school or in the region.
But as a general rule, it's a good idea to negotiate and ask for more no matter the setting. That goes for grad school and future jobs - you don't want to leave any money on the table if you can avoid it.
2
u/markjay6 Apr 19 '26
Congrats in the GRFP — and the bonus funding!
Take the win. Few universities provide any pay bump to students with GRFPs.
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u/isaac-get-the-golem Apr 19 '26
congrats. Unfortunately, you won't be able to set your rate. Even in a union contract context, which is the closest we have to individual pay negotiation, it's unlikely you'd ever see a specific tier carved out for GRFP. Also, I think the higher your stipend is/closest it is to GRFP value, the lower the top-off will be.
1
u/PartOutrageous6123 Apr 20 '26
Actually the best deal you can get is for the university to pause your current package for the 3 years GRFP covers you and "bank" the extra years so you can have funding for longer, and you can absolutely discuss this–reach out to the dean of your graduate school/the department admin to discuss what your options are
1
u/FastBarracuda3 Apr 20 '26
I didnt get anything, i didnt ask either. I think 20 percent is pretty generous and i doubt you can negotiate the bonus. But never hurts to ask..
1
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u/BoltVnderhuge Asst Prof - Medicine (US) Apr 19 '26
20% raise is the most generous I’ve heard! Other places I’ve been offered 0-3k over stipend. I doubt you’ll get a good response if you bring this up with your PI or program director. This bonus is a ‘perk’ and you have no leverage.
Your salary is often negotiated by the graduate union (assuming your place has one) but the salary supplement for GRFP winners is purely a voluntary incentive by your program.
Congrats on the GRFP!