The announcement late last week raising the minimum Ph.D. student stipend by 6.7 percent has generally received positive feedback among the Penn graduate population, though students are urging the University to do even more.
The increase, which will take effect in September, raised the minimum stipend for students completing 9-month programs from $18,000 to $19,200.
The School of Arts and Sciences also raised its minimum stipend for 10-month Ph.D. programs from $18,300 to $21,000, a 14.7 percent jump.
"Given the constraints of the endowment and the resources of the university we think that this is a fair and equitable stipend increase", said Graduate and Professional Students Assembly chairman Dan Grabell, adding that the increase "has been very well thought out."
Stipend money for each school will come from within that school's individual budget.
"This increase reflects the critical importance to our community of Ph.D. students, who embody Penn's commitment to intellectual innovation and cutting-edge research and scholarship," said Leo Charney, spokesman for the Provost's office.
"This year's raise is a great start toward making graduate students financially secure enough to do excellent research and first-class teaching," said fifth-year SAS graduate student Roger Turner, who is the vice president for policy and administration for SASgov.
Leslie Warden, fifth-year SAS graduate student and president of SASgov agreed, saying that the 10-month SAS stipend payout would allow students to spend more time on their research.
She added that many graduate students have to work year-round jobs in addition to their studies.
However, while the increase is a relief, some students say it might not be sufficient to solve all their financial woes.
"The increase is encouraging, but I'm not sure if it will completely solve the problem," said Linda Lee, a fifth-year SAS graduate student. "In addition to basic living expenses, there are a lot of additional expenses that do not get addressed."
She said graduate students are expected to attend national conferences in their fields, which generally cost around $1,000 each. Currently, students only receive a $300 travel grant from their schools and can sometimes receive up to $300 in additional funding from GAPSA.
But the increase may make Penn more competitive among its peer institutions, as the University was ranked the lowest in the Ivy League for graduate stipends prior to the announcement.
The new stipends have made Penn "a very attractive place to pursue one's graduate career," Warden said.
