Let’s face it! Getting a doctorate degree is a herculean task and to be candid there’s no completely easy route to go about bagging a doctorate degree. This is because PhDs require various tasks and a high level of financial and physical commitment which sometimes means that you literally have to shut out the world and focus all your energy on all necessary prerequisites that’ll earn you the award you so desire. The truth here is getting a Ph.D. is expensive and if you’re not so fortunate to get sponsorship either from family or an external body, the financial obligations attached to obtaining a Ph.D. makes most of its students run into debts. It’s important to properly layout a financial plan and explore possible funding opportunities before enrolling in any Ph.D. program. This saves you from getting cash trapped during the program and might destabilize and slow down your progress rate. Lets’ know more about Do PHD Students Go Into Debt?
Here are five reasons why Ph.D. students go into Debt
1. Living Expenses
2. Research
3. Publications
4. Conferences
5. Family Commitments
1. Living Expenses
The sad truth here is that the ‘full-funding’ opportunities most PhDs students strive to get are not enough to cover their basic needs. Being a recipient of two or more funding opportunities is usually frowned at by the awarding bodies. Because it’s against their policy and only very few agencies grant sponsorship to students who already have some financial backing.
Living expenses cannot be estimated due to inflation and the persistent rise in the cost of living globally. A Ph.D. student might not be able to predict when they’ll finish their research, and the longer time they spend, the more debts they accumulate. There are also a thousand unforeseen circumstances that’ll force a few dollars from their hands in the course of the journey, and this is one of the gazillion reasons why Ph.D. students are battling with debts.
2. Research
This is the core reason why Ph.D. students enroll in the program in the first place. Ph.D. students are intrigued by a particular subject matter and cannot wait to dig deeper into the proximate cause of the identified research problem. The issue with this is, that there’s no cheap research, and the larger the scope of your research work, the more money you’ll spend.
Additionally, the probability that a particular idea would turn out to be a researchable area is sometimes slim. This means the Ph.D. student might have to take on another area of interest There are also tons of both explicit and implicit costs that come with the Ph.D. journey and the student must be ready to fulfill all the necessary financial obligations that come with the territory.
3. Publications
The journey to becoming an authority in any academic discipline begins with embarking on a Ph.D. degree program but it’s solidified with academic publications. What’s a Ph.D. without various publications in reputable journals? It’s advisable not to even begin if you are not interested in publishing and lending your voice to societal issues. The problem here is that most journals of repute require you to pay huge sums before your papers are accepted, reviewed, and published.
Ph.D. students are now saddled with the heavy responsibility of sourcing funds to fulfill this obligation. Some institutions would mandate their students to publish at least two or three articles in a highly ranked journal before their viva. This simply means publishing is a prerequisite to graduation and Ph.D. students increase their debts to fulfill this major task.
4. Conferences
It’s important to attend conferences, network, and meet people during your Ph.D. journey. It broadens your horizon and increases your knowledge. As you get to meet people who can help you throw more lights to your research area and even get you an internship or job placement. The downside to this is that it costs money as some conferences happen outside your country of study and you need to pay for flights, accommodation, conference fees, certificates, etc.
The interesting thing here is that Ph.D. students have to attend more than one conference during the course of their program. Although they might get sponsorships, and waivers, they still need to spend their funds for other costs not covered.
Some conferences might not add the value they are looking for, and they still have to keep attending conferences because the value they need might just be found in conferences they failed to attend.
5. Family Commitments
Most Ph.D. students are mature and have personal and family obligations. Research has shown that Ph.D. students pile up more debts because of these obligations. Sometimes, they have to divert funds meant for their research to meet their personal obligations, and this harms their Ph.D. journey.
Conclusion
Becoming a doctorate degree holder is laudable and worthy of emulation if your dreams and career path compel you to enroll in a Ph.D. program. However, conduct a proper feasibility study on how much debt you’ll acquire if you follow that path. It’s essential to explore viable ways to get funding both personally and externally, this would help ease the financial burden.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do Institutions hire their Ph.D. students?
Yes, they do, although not all students can get hired by their institutions.
2. Is it compulsory to get a Ph.D. before you earn well?
No, it’s not. We have people with no degrees that earn well above six figures with their skills and certifications.