Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program Cost Sharing

Purpose 

To define the standard cost-sharing model for Ph.D. programs defined by Graduate Academics as "interdisciplinary" within The Graduate School (TGS), promote consistency in the distribution of tuition revenue and graduate student awards, and encourage transparency and simplicity in cost-sharing models across school training collaborations. This policy excludes expenditures related to the administrative staffing, space, and other operational categories. This policy also does not apply to programs specifically identified as Dual, Joint, and 4+1 Degrees, as they have specific arrangements at the participating school level.

Policy

TGS expects schools participating in interdisciplinary training programs to share the institutionally-funded expenses related to tuition, mandatory fee, health and dental insurance benefits, and stipend support for students within defined funding years:

1. As with all Ph.D. programs, interdisciplinary program students receive the standard five-year funding commitment through various institutional and external funding sources.
    
2. Within the standard five-year funding commitment, interdisciplinary programs with more sponsored research resources may have fewer of the total five funding years supported from institutional funds.
    
3. During each funding year in which students will be supported from institutional resources, tuition revenue generated from student enrollment should be applied to tuition and fee scholarships, Student Medical or Dental Insurance Plan (SMIP or SDIP) scholarships, stipends, and TGS central student support resource expenses paid from designated TGS student aid codes (beginning with 168 and/or 15x).
   1. During fiscal years in which total TGS student aid expenses exceed the available tuition revenue, there will be a deficit within TGS accounting.
   2. During fiscal years in which tuition revenue exceeds the total TGS student aid expenses, there will be a surplus within TGS accounting.
   3. Both program deficits and surpluses within TGS accounting will be cost-shared by the participating schools, using a predetermined percentage based on students' primary advisor "home" department.
      1. This means if 40% of all students within an interdisciplinary program have primary advisors from X school and 60% from Y school, X school will pay/receive 40% of the deficit/surplus and Y school will pay/receive 60% of the deficit/surplus.
   4. While other school funding sources can be used to provide scholarships and stipends, it is important to note that only TGS student aid codes can be included in TGS accounting deficits and surpluses. Faculty agreements to fund students from their own research resources must be managed at the school level.
       
4. Cost-sharing percentages can be reevaluated every three years for Biomedical Sciences programs and a three-year rolling average for all other interdisciplinary programs.
    
5. Due to the size and scope of TGS interdisciplinary programs across several schools, each with their own preferred Ph.D. funding models, student-level cost-sharing cannot occur. Semester funding details by fund code and GL, however, will provide the foundation used by schools to identify internal incentives and resource planning.

Procedure

1. Tuition, fee, and SMIP/SDIP insurance scholarships will continue to be processed by TGS.
    
2. Stipend funding from all funding sources requires payroll processing within the respective graduate program.
    
3. Upon request, TGS can provide funding details based on source to assist with school-level analyses and internal resource management. Funding details will be uniformly formatted to reflect the scholarship/stipend fund code (cost center/WBSE), GL code, and expense amount by fall/spring semester.
   1. Due to the timing differences between academic and fiscal years, summer funding details may show projected student support amounts.