ANY QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-mail cogs@umn.edu
The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) conducts a biennial survey of graduate students. The most recent survey was conducted in the spring of 2008. The comprehensive survey asked students about different aspects of graduate life including program quality, professional development, advising, financial support, student life and campus resources. Approximately 2000 students from 133 degree programs completed the survey with over half of respondents currently pursuing a PhD. The survey results showed that graduate students are very concerned about the increasing costs of graduate education. Recent estimates show the cost of attendance for graduate students at the University of Minnesota is approximately $25,000 per academic year (for Minnesota resident and not considering additional costs of each department). About 60% of graduate students reported they were offered financial support when they first began attending their current program. However, over 34% of current graduate students are shouldering more than $10,000 in debt from their graduate education. In addition, lack of travel funding has prevented 38% of graduate students from attending professional conferences. The report outlines other concerns graduate students have reported, highlighting particular issues collectively and also broken down by Policy and Review Councils.
The full report details the results of the survey. The results are also broken down by PhD Degree Results and Master's Degree Results. Reports for the individual P&R Councils are also available:
The original press release is also available.Health Sciences
Language, Literature and Arts
Education and Psychology
Biological Sciences
Engineering, Physcial and Math Scicenes
Social Sciences
