With fellow Ivy League institutions announcing increased spending on graduate student financial aid, Dartmouth is feeling pressure to strengthen support for its own graduate programs.
Dean of Graduate Students Carol Folt said she was confident in the strengths of Dartmouth's current financial aid program but stressed the importance of monitoring the programs of other schools.
"It is a very competitive environment for attracting quality graduate students, and part of that climate is to offer a competitive aid package," she said. "I think Dartmouth has a fairly competitive financial aid package, but any good graduate program will reassess that on a yearly basis."
Last month, both Harvard and Yale announced that they would increase spending on financial aid to their graduate students.
Harvard's dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, Jeremy Knowles, announced an additional $4 million would be spent on graduate aid in the coming year, while Graduate School Dean Susan Hockfield of Yale announced that stipends for doctoral students would be raised $1,300 to $15,000.
The University of Pennsylvania has also increased spending on graduate financial aid over the past year, announcing an increase of spending on the order of $2 to $3 million last March. Minimum stipends were also raised from $12,000 to $12,500.
"Given the fact of these increases, it's important that we remain competitive relative to these institutions," Folt said. "I think that there is a need for Dartmouth to increase support for graduate students to maintain competitiveness."
Any changes to the current structure of graduate student financial aid would only become effective later in the 2002-03 academic year, Folt said, though there are no concrete plans at present.
Gary Hutchins, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, said that he knew of no major changes that Dartmouth has made to graduate financial aid packages over the past two years.
"We have done some checks with comparative stipends to make sure we are in line," he said, indicating that he felt Dartmouth's aid package remains competitive with those of other schools.
He said that Dartmouth provides a minimum yearly stipend of $16,440 for its graduate students. The stipend, which is given to cover living expenses, is granted in addition to the full-tuition scholarships offered by graduate departments.
Folt cautioned against simple comparisons of the minimum stipends of various schools, since such amounts can vary tremendously from department to department, and can represent amounts granted over a period of a few months and several years.
Still, while data on department-specific stipend amounts is difficult to come by, she said that there is clear evidence of recent increases at other institutions.
While Folt saw the need for a financial aid package comparable to those at other colleges and universities, she also emphasized the strong points of the current program.
"I think one of the real strengths is that we offer support for five years, so that [graduate students] know that they will be supported throughout the program," she said.
At many other institutions, Folt said, students must apply for aid on a yearly basis.
Additionally, Dartmouth supports a large number of its graduate students through faculty research grants. There are roughly two graduate students supported on grants for every one supported directly by the College, according to Folt, who sees this ratio as "the sign of a productive institution."
Though other forms of financial aid among them insurance and low-cost housing are offered, Hutchins said that specific programs are largely dependent on the particular academic department in question.
"With 17 different departments, it's like 17 different schools," he said. "There are some departments which also pay for the cost of health insurance, but again that varies by department."
Low-cost housing is also available and is "open to first-year students," though Hutchins said current accommodations are not sufficient to meet 100 percent of student need.
