Funding Issues for International PhD Students at Canadian Universities

According to Western News, six philosophy Ph.D. students at the University of Western Ontario have recently raised concerns about funding for students who take more than four years to complete the degree. Western guarantees funding for all doctoral students for four years, or five for those who have been admitted directly from a n undergraduate program. This benchmark is based on criteria set by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities’ (MTCU). As a result of recent federal policy changes, international student applicants who formerly qualified for the Federal Skilled Worker program will not longer be eligible. These changes restrict international students from applying for permanent residency status while on a study permit, and those students who do not complete their degree within four years risk being deported. Previously, PhD students who qualified for permanent residency status could pay domestic tuition fees, which at Western are less than half of what international students pay. It is being argued that this is not only an international issue. Both Canadian and international students sometimes require more than four years to complete the Ph.D. But while Canadian students are eligible for government funding programs such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), international students are not. The Associate Dean of Research for the Faculty of Arts at Western notes that there has been an issue of slow completion that the university is working to improve. Nonetheless, Western, along with other Canadian universities, has brought its concerns about the policy revisions to the federal government.

Funding Awarded to Study STEM Master's Completion

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Association, has selected five U.S. universities to take part in a study on completion and attrition in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) master's programs. Each institution will receive $30,000 for their participation. Further information can be found here.

Student Diversity in Higher Education: Conflicting Realities

This week I am in Amsterdam for the European Access Network's 20th Anniversary Conference. I am looking forward to the paper sessions; in particular a presentation about widening assess and opportunities for graduate students, and plenary panel speaker Dr. Michael Nettles of Educational Testing Services in the U.S.

Advice for Grad Students

Today's Career Advice column at Inside Higher Ed offers the following recommendations to graduate students:

1. Always prepare for the worst.

2. Nobody cares about you.

3. You must know why your work is important.

4. Psychological problems are the biggest barrier.

5. Avoid taking lectures. They're usually inefficient.

6. Manage your advisors.