How MIT’s collaborative graduate student stipend process works

March 23, 2022

Ian A. Waitz, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education |

Highlights

MIT’s graduate student stipend-setting process is a hallmark process at MIT, and unique across all of higher education.
Each year, the entirely student-run GSC Stipend Committee undertakes a comprehensive analysis to inform their stipend increase recommendations.
Historically, the increases in stipends set by the administration have equaled or exceeded the yearly growth in the cost of graduate student living, as estimated by the committee.
The administration works closely with the committee and other student leaders to deliver on broader priorities to address the needs of all of our students.
The current stipend-setting process is nimble, ensuring that stipend rates are not locked in over a series of years as they could be in a union contract.
We expect to announce the new graduate student stipend rates in the coming weeks.

Dear Graduate Students,

You may have read the recent letter from the Graduate Student Council (GSC) Stipend & Executive Committees concerning their 2022–23 recommendations for graduate student stipend increases and related financial support. As MIT’s senior leaders, deans, and department heads are now discussing their stipend decision for the coming academic year, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain what I think is a hallmark process at MIT, which is unique across all of higher education. It is also a wonderful example of the administration working directly with graduate students on important matters.

Each year, the entirely student-run GSC Stipend Committee undertakes a comprehensive analysis to inform their stipend increase recommendations. Their process takes into consideration a variety of factors, including local housing costs, inflation rates, and financial packages at peer institutions. It is based in part on expenses graduate students report in a regular in-depth survey.

Historically, the increases in stipends set by the administration have equaled or exceeded the yearly growth in the cost of graduate student living, as estimated by the committee.

To be clear, while we have a goal of responding positively to the students’ recommendations, we have not always fully adopted the recommendations related to competitive positioning with peers due to other factors related to impacts on departmental budgets, research costs, and constraints from our sponsors. However, while the standard stipend rates we set serve as a floor, we give discretion to departments to provide higher stipends consistent with their local circumstances. As a result, more than half of our students get paid above the standard rate. The flexibility to do this, and to offer other local financial measures, is an important feature of our current processes.

As a result of this direct collaborative process between the administration and the GSC Stipend Committee, MIT’s graduate student stipends compare favorably to, and in nearly every case are higher than, the stipends at the nine private American universities with unionized graduate students. MIT’s minimum graduate student stipends increased 3.25% in June 2021 (1% more than the GSC-estimated change in cost-of-living) and benefitted from an additional 3% mid-year increase in December 2021. We anticipate additional stipend increases to emerge from this year’s process with the GSC because of inflationary pressures, competitiveness for students, and research competitiveness.

It is also the case that the GSC Stipend Committee’s efforts go beyond a single recommended number. The administration works closely with the student committee and other student leaders to deliver on broader priorities, such as alleviating financial pressure for those facing challenging circumstances, supporting students with children, and addressing the unique needs of our international students. In 2019, the school deans committed to implementing new ways to help, including the creation of three sources of financial support:

short-term emergency funding,
doctoral student long-term financial hardship funding, and
the need-blind MIT Grant for Graduate Students with Children program (the base support of which was increased after the first year).

And as just announced by the provost and the executive vice president and treasurer, the administration’s collaboration with student leaders, deans, and department heads has culminated in addressing the long-standing desire to better fund PhD students in SHASS and SA+P. All centrally funded doctoral students in SHASS and SA+P are now guaranteed 12-month support for the entire time to degree. Moreover, although not addressed by the GSC Stipend Committee, MIT will also now fully fund the tuition shortfall on NSF.

Finally, this annual, collaborative stipend-setting process is nimble, ensuring that stipend rates are not locked in over a series of years as they could be in a union contract. In addition, there is certainty every year that this direct process leads to increases in stipends.

I hope the above provides helpful context on how stipends are currently set working directly with student leaders. As always, I want to thank this year’s GSC Stipend Committee for their excellent work. We expect to announce the new rates in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Ian A. Waitz
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education