Universities Weblog

(Source: University of Chicago)

When I was a senior in college, my advisor told me to think about the University of Chicago for graduate school. Chicago has long been one of the premier graduate centers in the world, earning the moniker "the teacher of teachers." It helped, my advisor said, that I'm Polish. The city is home to one of the largest concentrations of Polish people outside Poland. Not that all of them attend the U of C, mind you.

Anyway, the U of C is now promising to strengthen that reputation by investing heavily in its graduate students. Read this bit from the Chicago Tribune:

In an effort to maintain its strong reputation for graduate education, the University of Chicago announced Wednesday that it will significantly boost financial aid to doctoral students in the social sciences and humanities.

The university, which had begun to lag behind its competitors in graduate student aid, will invest an additional $50 million over the next six years, an increase that will make its graduate students among the best financially supported in the country, officials said. The university currently spends about $60 million a year on graduate student aid in the humanities and social sciences.

Beginning this fall, PhD. students will get a minimum package of five years of tuition, health insurance, a $19,000 stipend per year and two summers of financial support for research worth $6,000. Most of the university's social science and humanities graduate students currently get a four-year tuition package and annual stipends ranging from $4,000 to $18,000. Some students get no aid.

Though other universities such as Northwestern have boosted graduate student support in recent years, they often have done so by reducing the number of students. The U. of C., however, will continue to enroll about 250 new graduate students in the social sciences and humanities each year, one of the largest programs among top private research universities.

"It is way too important a priority for the university, and way too intrinsically connected to the fabric of the university, to not be able to do this," said U. of C. President Robert Zimmer, who said the money will come from the general budget and fundraising.

So consider the U of C if you're eyeing an academic career. Especially if you're Polish.

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