Enhancements to PhD Education

• Increased stipends: 4-21% increase in annual stipends across schools/colleges from AY23-24 to AY24-25 (*Peabody College saw a 21% increase). This brings the annual base stipend for Ph.D. students to $34,000-$38,000 (varies by program/school).
  
  
• Regalia reimbursement: Through funding from the Graduate School, all graduating Ph.D. students receive a free regalia rental or a $200 discount on the purchase of regalia.  

• Launching Student Success Stipend (for incoming PhD and MFA students): Newly enrolled Ph.D. and MFA students receive a one-time stipend of $2,000 to help them prepare for the upcoming academic year.  

• Candidacy Success Supplement: All students who reach candidacy receive $500 as recognition of progress to degree.  

• Vanderbilt Awards for Doctoral Discovery (VADD): In Spring 2023, schools and colleges with Ph.D. programs received and distributed funding from the Provost and Graduate school to assist students in attending conferences, visiting labs for training, and doing fieldwork.  

• Graduate School Honors Fellowships: The Graduate School Honors Fellowships (“Topping Awards”) are paid out in two lump sums (one at the start of each semester) to Ph.D. students giving them flexibility to utilize funds at their discretion.  Honors Fellowships were awarded to 382 students in AY23-24; award per student ranges from $2,500 to $10,000. 

• Endowed Awards for PhD Students: Each year, the university recognizes students for their outstanding research and provides over $90,000 of endowed scholarship funding.  

• Provost Pathbreaking Discovery Award: These $2,500 awards recognizes doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents, and other forms of national/international distinction.

• Grant Writing Resources: The Graduate School created a comprehensive, multi-part grant funding "mini-course” in Brightspace, available to all students. This asynchronous course includes discipline-specific resources as well as information on best practices for seeking and writing grants. 

• WriteOn!: The Graduate School launched a writing accountability group which provides guided programming and helps them set weekly and monthly progress goals. 

• Dissertation Enhancement Grants: Grants of up to $2,000 are awarded to Ph.D. students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research, adding depth or breadth to their dissertation.

• SEC Emerging Scholars: This career development program is designed to prepare scholars for tenured faculty positions in higher education within the Southeastern Conference. 

• Mentoring Awards: This award recognizes the vital role mentorship plays in student success and encourages faculty and doctoral students to develop strong and supportive mentoring relationships.

• Department and Student Connections: The Graduate Student Council and the Graduate School are collaborating to provide funding for departments to go toward hosting a dinner or providing refreshments for doctoral students to foster community and belonging. 

• Honors Banquet and Doctoral Student Awards: The Graduate School hosts a honors banquet each spring to celebrate student scholarly excellence. Three students receive Outstanding Doctoral Student Awards.  

• Friday Fuel: One Friday each month, the Graduate School hosts an informal gathering in the Graduate Student Lounge in Alumni Hall for students to build community and learn about campus resources. 

• Graduate Student Appreciation Week: Each spring, the Graduate School hosts various events to celebrate graduate students. This includes the first Graduate Career Closet to provide interview-ready attire to students preparing for the job search. 

• Dental Insurance and Annual Vision Exam: Beginning in AY 23-24, dental insurance and an annual vision exam as part of Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). The annual plan cost per student covered by schools as part of a comprehensive doctoral student financial aid package is $3,977. 

• Student Care Network Supports: A number of additional support mechanisms were implemented by the Office of the Dean of students to promote student wellbeing: 

  • The Dean of Students in partnership with the Faculty Senate developed a training for faculty and staff regarding support for student mental health. 
  • Drop-in consultation hours at the University Counseling Center  are available for graduate and professional students. 
  • The Student Care Assistance Program through the Office of Student Care Coordination (OSCC) supports graduate students with medical costs. 
  • The Student Care Network offers expanded telehealth options, including physical and behavioral health, as well as nutrition and lactation consultations. 

• Enhanced Programming for Career Development: In partnership with Vanderbilt’s Career Center, there are fall and spring colloquia focused on career development specific to doctoral students. This partnership continues  to grow. 

• Tracking Ph.D. Placements: Vanderbilt invested in an innovative university-wide longitudinal tracking of Vanderbilt Ph.D. alumni using data from Academic Analytics regarding PhD placements.  This effort is central to our collective success in meeting our institutional objective of recruiting the best scholars and supporting their career trajectories in top positions across top-tier institutions of higher education as well as the public and private sectors. 

• Clarifying the VU/VUMC dual identity process: We are assisting students connected to both Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center with dual identity.

At Vanderbilt, we never stop growing or achieving. It is the Vanderbilt Way. As part of our commitment to our mission, the Graduate School is actively working on ways to better support doctoral education and training at Vanderbilt. Stay tuned for more updates on how we are using the annual investment to improve the lives and access to research and funding for our graduate students and the faculty that support them.