University at Buffalo (UB) 
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News CenterUpdated December 6, 2022
The university values the talent and dedication of its graduate students. Graduate students and in particular doctoral students are critical to UB’s success as a major, public research university. As with students at all levels, UB is dedicated to bringing in the very best doctoral students and providing them with transformative academic programs that prepare them for rewarding careers.
UB launched the PhD Excellence Initiative in 2019 to strengthen its PhD programs and address important and timely national issues related to student recruitment, diversity, improving retention and time to degree, and providing exceptional pedagogical and research training that ensure strong program outcomes.
As part of UB’s PhD Excellence Initiative, the university supports the cost of broad-based fees for PhD students who are full time and fully funded,. The funding covers UB’s Comprehensive Fee, which supports several university services; the Academic Excellence and Success Fee, which funds academics and research; the Student Activity Fee; and the International Student Fee, if applicable.
In 2019 the university raised the minimum stipend campuswide to $20,000 for full-time, fully funded PhD students on 10-month appointments as teaching, research, or graduate assistants, placing UB’s annual PhD stipends among the top five of AAU public universities.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Provost Scott Weber announced that effective fall 2023, UB will raise minimum stipends to $23,000 and $29,900 for full-time, fully funded PhD students on 10-month and 12-month appointments, respectively. These increases will ensure that PhD stipends remain competitive and UB programs are able to recruit the very best PhD students to the university.
Raising the floor for academic year stipends and supporting the cost of broad-based fees enhances efforts to recruit excellent PhD students and ensure that UB’s PhD programs remain among the strongest in the world. Through UB’s PhD Excellence Initiative, UB:
To build on the progress made through the PhD Excellence Initiative, the university has established a collaborative process with the campus community to determine the future direction of PhD education at UB, including a regular review of minimum stipend amounts for competitiveness and cost-of-living standards.
Across the university, graduate students who serve as teaching assistants at UB receive a total funding package averaging about $38,000 per year, which includes a tuition scholarship paid by the university, a stipend, and health and retirement benefits. The university believes this represents a significant investment in our graduate students.
The university invested a total of $42.1 million in PhD stipends and tuition scholarships at UB in 2021-22. The university remits to the State University of New York system the cost of tuition scholarships provided to graduate assistants.
Yes, UB’s investment in stipends and tuition scholarships for graduate students has grown by over $11.1 million since 2012-13.
For the 2017-18 academic year, the average UB stipend was $18,006. This figure does not include supplemental fellowships awarded to PhD students or payment for extra service such as summer teaching or summer research.
Under the terms of the current PhD Excellence initiative, A UB PhD student working up to 20 hours per week, with an academic year assistantship (10-month) earns at least $20,000. This translates to a minimum hourly rate of $25.00 for up to 800 hours of work. On Nov. 30, 2022, Provost Scott Weber announced that effective fall 2023, UB will raise minimum stipends to $23,000 and $29,900 for full-time, fully funded PhD students on 10-month and 12-month appointments, respectively. This raised minimum stipends will translate to a minimum hourly rate of $28.75.
When annualized, the average stipend amount equates to a minimum of $25 per hour. Stipends are awarded for the nine-month academic year for teaching one course and providing up to 20 hours of service per week to an academic department.
UB’s deans unanimously decided to establish a floor of $20,000 for academic-year stipends for all full-time, funded PhD students on 10-month academic TA/RA/GA appointments, starting in fall 2019.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Provost Scott Weber announced that effective fall 2023, UB will raise minimum stipends to $23,000 and $29,900 for full-time, fully funded PhD students on 10-month and 12-month appointments, respectively. These increases will ensure that PhD stipends remain competitive and UB programs are able to recruit the very best PhD students to the university.
The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that someone working full-time (52 weeks per year, 40 hours per week) at their Living Wage rate would earn an annual income of $27,456.00. The calculation is based on a single adult, living in Erie County making an hourly wage of $13.20, which is MIT’s minimum standard given the local cost of living. This calculation assumes that this single adult works full-time, year-round or 2,080 hours per year.
A UB PhD student working up to 20 hours per week, with an academic year assistantship (40 weeks) earns at least $20,000 under UB’s current PhD Excellence Initiative. This translates to a minimum hourly rate of $25.00 for up to 800 hours of work. This $20,000 floor for stipends exceeds the MIT calculator’s living wage.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Provost Scott Weber announced that effective fall 2023, UB will raise minimum stipends to $23,000 and $29,900 for full-time, fully funded PhD students on 10-month and 12-month appointments, respectively. This raised minimum stipends will translate to a minimum hourly rate of $28.75.
The MIT Living Wage is $13.20 per hour. The current Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) contract minimum is $13.47 per hour although the State’s minimum wage is set to rise to $14.20 at the end of December 2022.
UB’s average PhD stipend exceeds the minimum stipend per the terms of current contract negotiated by GSEU. According to the GSEU’s contract, the minimum stipend for the 2022-2023 academic year for students on full assistantships at all SUNY institutions is $10,779 annually.
The UB Foundation provides an estimated $5 million annually in support of UB graduate students in the form of scholarships, fellowships and graduate student stipends.
Unrestricted funds from UBF are limited in their use and they are used for specific purposes, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the accounting standard adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These funds are limited for use in the following three categories.