‘Cost of PhD’– is the biggest concern for everyone who is willing to get a PhD degree. Not for some, but it matters a lot for every student and therefore, every PhD student is looking for funding.
In spite of the fact that PhD- the doctor of philosophy is the utmost academic honor, is time-consuming, tedious and costlier to achieve. Henceforth, if you are planning to get into any PhD course make sure to think about the cost of PhD.
As different countries have variable rules and regulations for a PhD candidate, the cost and overall investment vary.
For instance, some government institute in India charges 10,000 to 15,000 Rs per year.
Talk of the topic: in the present topic we will explain to you the cost of pursuing PhD in different countries, cost for different subjects and affecting factors.
The cost of PhD degree:
Before knowing the actual cost of a PhD degree, one should known the bifurcation of the fees. Usually, Educational fees, tuition fees, library fees, campus maintenance cost, accommodation fees, journal and literature fees are commonly included in the PhD cost.
However, accommodation, hostel and other secondary charges are excluded from the PhD fess. University to university the rules for fees vary.
The educational fees are directly goes to the university fund for academic purpose. The educational fees are compulsory.
Tuition fees are given to the professors and lecturers who teach us during the entire tenure of PhD.
The library and literature fees are given for utilizing the books, subscription and library reading facilities by us.
The accomodation fees are collected for providing stay facilities by university while the campus maintenance changes (are not so common) are also included in the overall cost of PhD.
An extra cost of breakage and instrumentation changes are also consider in it for science and related subject.
Even though after paying all these ‘afficial fees’ a student has to invest money for travel, sample collection, outsourcing and other subscription and literature purchases.
Factor affecting the cost of PhD:
There are several global factors that influence the PhD fees. Such as the popularity of the university, couse or the college in which a student want to do PhD, economy of the country, and the funding options.
The status of the college or university:
Popular and highly ranked universities charges more fees in terms of tuitions and other charges in comparison with the over grade universities.
Also, the structure of fees varies among the schools and colleges of the universities. For instance, even though a universities is not so popular if some of their departments are popular, they charges more!
Economy of the country:
The economical status of the country has great effect on the fees of any degree because they avail financial facilities to all the uniersities of their country. If their government is unable to do so, universities and colleges has to manage the cost by theirself.
In these cases, the cost goes high! However, if the repuation of the course is too good, it doesn’t matter.
Funding options:
India has less PhD funding option than the USA or the UK and hence universities can’t charges more! Student can’t afford it, simple.
If funding option are more, universities can change high because the overall cost of the entire PhD should not be paid by the student. It those cases, it is beneficial for students directly and the universities as well.
With the scholarship and fellowship option, sponsored PhD options are there in the USA and the UK for students in which a private company or corporate funds a student or his or her work.
These are some of the factor that decides the overall fees of PhD, now lets checkout the fees for PhD in various countries.
PhD cost in the USA:
The overall cost of PhD in the USA is around 25,000USD to 40,000USD per year or even more. Although the fees structure varies from university to university. The cost idea of various universities offering PhD in the USA are:
| University | Cost |
| Harvard university | $49,448 to $66,000 |
| Standford university | $52,000 |
| Massachusetts Intitute of Technology | $70,000 to $84,000 |
| University of california, Berkline | $32,000 or more |
| Columbia university | $71,000 to $1,00,000 |
| University of california, LA | $32,000 or more |
| Yale university | $43,000 |
| University of Pennsylvania | $59,104 to $66,166 |
| Princeton univesrity | $56,414 |
| Cornell university | ~$30,000 |
Note that the fees given here are approximate estimation, it may vary from subject to subject and also are annual.
Another point foreign students should have take in mind is that the fees may go higher for students other than the USA.
PhD cost in the UK:
The PhD fees structure in UK- England is a bit different than the USA as it may cost around 3,000 to 6,000 pound for resident students and 18,000 to 25,000 pound for foreign students.
Here are the cost of doing PhD in top universities of UK.
| University | Cost of PhD |
| University of Oxford | 4,265 to 36,065 pound |
| University of Cambridge | 9,000 to 21,732 pound |
| University of London | 2,203 to 4,407 pound |
| Univeristy of Edinburgh | 2,164 to 22,200 pund |
| University of Manchester | 6,000 to 9,500 pound |
PhD cost in India:
India is yet another hub for getting a PhD degree. Variations in the PhD fees are huge in India, starting from thousand to lacks. It may cost 10,000 to 10,00,000 lakhs per year.
| University | Cost per year |
| Indian Institute of science | 20,200 to 1,70,200 INR |
| Indian Institute of technology, Bombay | Not provided |
| Indian Insititute of technology, Delhi | Not provided |
| Indian Institute of technology, Kharagpur | Not provided |
| Indian Institute of technology, Roorkee | Not provided |
Now here are the things that are included and excluded from the fees.
- Tuition fees- for two years
- Reduction fees- rest of years
- Facilities fee
- File charges
- Health or medical insurance
- Documentation fees
- Application fees
- Enrolment fee
- Technology fee
- Lab charges
- Instrumentation charges
- Library charges
- Miscellaneous charges
Other expenses
- House rent or accommodation
- Food
- Utilities
- Books and literature
- Personal expenses
- Transportation
- Outsourcing and other
Final remarks:
Note that these charges are approximate and taken from the official website of the universities and other internet sources. The cost may vary. Furthermore, there are other charges as well such as lab charges, breakage charges and instrumentation charges for science students.
Please visit the official website of the university before applying to the PhD program. In addition to keep one thing in mind that the fee of resident students and foregn sutdents are different. So contact the university before applying into PhD.
Conclusively, a PhD degree cost 25,000 to 40,000USD in the USA, 3,000 to 25,000 pound in the UK and 10,000 to 5,00,000 in India.
