On average, how expensive is pursuing a PhD?

Hi there. These are all great answers. My personal path toward earning my PhD was very expensive. I made some poor financial choices that will impact me for several years so I want to share with you some things I wish I had known before starting out.

First, if using federal student loans, there is a lifetime limit over the course of your college career that will likely cause issues if part of your education is not funded through scholarships or other means. I am not sure what the current cap is but this almost kept me from finishing my dissertation.

Second, I feel having a PhD in my chosen profession has earned me reputational accolades but has been much more beneficial in a few gigs in academia over helping climb the corporate ladder. Your career path as you progress through your education may change the value proposition of having a doctorate.

Lastly, over the course of my education, I never took the opportunity to pay down student loans that I did take. This has resulted in a rather large burden I could have lessened by paying even $10 or $20 a month toward those loans.

I would not change my journey, including my PhD, for anything, but these 3 things are important to consider in my opinion as they will have implications far past your graduation. Good luck!

This is a great question!

You should keep in mind that, in order to earn a PhD, there are several "stepping stones" after high school. (Please note that this answer will refer to the system in the US.)

First, you'll earn a 4-year degree (a bachelor's degree); on the way to doing this, you may or may not earn a 2-year degree (called an associate's degree). Generally speaking, once you have a 4-year degree, the 2-year degree is overshadowed.

Your 4-year degree is also called your undergraduate degree. After your undergraduate degree, you would begin graduate-level studies. Both a master's and a PhD qualify as graduate-level degrees (or advanced degrees). Some students enter into PhD programs directly after earning their undergraduate degrees. Others might instead enter a master's program to obtain a master's degree, and, after that, enter into a PhD program.

So how does this relate to your question?

Each of these paths has a different price tag, and the price tag of each path varies considerably. Importantly, there are typically no "shortcuts" to getting a PhD, and so you must generally earn an undergraduate degree first, possibly followed by a master's degree, followed by a PhD. Each of these can affect the total cost dramatically.

The cost of a 4-year degree varies wildly (from effectively $0 to over $200,000). You should Google some strategies for reducing the cost of a 4-year degree, or ask a separate question here. The most common way to pay for a 4-year degree is through a combination of scholarships, financial aid, loans, and possibly contributions from parents or family members.

Earning a master's degree through a master's program is typically very, very expensive, and in most fields it is unusual to offset this cost by working for the school. The most common way to pay for a master's degree is through loans.

Earning a PhD, on the other hand, is often "free" in certain fields. What happens is that the school recognizes that strong applicants to their PhD programs can help them reduce the cost of teaching undergraduate students. So, in exchange for a tuition waiver, part of your job as PhD student is usually to be a teaching assistant (or research assistant). In addition to the tuition waiver, many programs will pay you a stipend, which is generally enough to cover your living expenses. In exceptional cases, you may be able to obtain a fellowship, grant, or other means of income during your PhD program. Finally, you can often earn a master's on the way to earning your PhD; in many cases, the only additional work is to fill out some paperwork. This is because a PhD requires at least the same level of knowledge as a master's degree in terms of coursework, plus an original contribution to the relevant field. In other words, all else being equal, someone who earns a PhD would be qualified to do work in that same field that requires a master's (and also have additional qualifications).

It's great that you're asking these kinds of questions so early -- I hope this gives you something to think about!

Source: I have attended a PhD program.

There are 2 general paths to consider here. If you are planning on being a full time student, you should look into graduate programs that will offer tuition reduction (in cases even free tuition) and a stipend in exchange for having you teach some classes or perform other work at the university.

If you however are eager to enter the work force, you can look for companies that offer tuition assistance. Many companies offer 5K, 10K or even full reimbursement on tuition and fees. Verizon is giving me 8K a year towards my PhD.

As far as an actual dollar number, that will obviously vary from school to school. However I found when I was looking at options, that in the Northeast at least, I was looking at an average cost of around 20K a year.