About the Graduate Stipend Budget Calculator
This graduate stipend budget calculator turns an annual PhD, master’s or postdoc-style stipend into a monthly budget. Enter the stipend, whether it is paid over 12 months or only the 9-month academic year, any summer income, student fees and health insurance your program does not cover, and the share you set aside or have withheld for income tax. It compares the resulting monthly take-home with your rent and other living costs to show your monthly surplus or shortfall.
It is built for admitted students comparing funding offers in different cities, current graduate students building a budget, and anyone on a 9-month appointment who needs to save part of each paycheck to get through the summer. The breakdown chart shows where the stipend goes, from tax and fees to rent and food.
Tax treatment of stipends is not built in, because it depends on your country, residency, treaty status and whether the payment is wages or a fellowship. Many US fellowships have no withholding at all, so enter the percentage you plan to set aside for estimated tax. Everything is averaged over 12 months.
With the default inputs, the monthly surplus / shortfall is $656.67. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the graduate stipend budget calculator
- 1Enter your annual stipend from the offer letter and how many months it is paid over.
- 2Add any summer funding or other income for the year.
- 3Enter the share you expect to pay in income tax, plus fees and insurance you pay yourself.
- 4Enter monthly rent including utilities, food, transport and other spending.
- 5Read the monthly surplus or shortfall and, for 9-month pay, how much to save per paycheck.
Formula and method
Gross income is the stipend plus any summer or other income. The tax set-aside is that total multiplied by the percentage you enter, and fees and health insurance you pay yourself are subtracted. The remainder divided by 12 is your average monthly take-home, which is compared with your monthly living costs to find the surplus or shortfall and savings rate.
If the stipend is paid over 9 or 10 months, each paycheck is larger than the monthly average. The calculator shows the net paycheck in paid months and how much to hold back from each so that your spending money stays level through the unpaid summer months (summer income, if any, is spread across the year in the average). Tax rules are not modelled — enter your own estimate.
- t
- Tax withheld or set aside, as a fraction
- Fees
- Yearly student fees not covered by your funding
Worked examples
$38,000 stipend paid monthly
Setting aside 12% leaves $33,440, and $1,200 of fees brings it to $32,240, or $2,686.67 a month. Living costs of $2,030 leave $656.67 a month, a 24% savings rate, though rent takes 46.5% of take-home.
9-month appointment with summer funding
$36,000 of income less 10% tax, $800 fees and $600 insurance leaves $31,000, or $2,583.33 a month on average. The stipend pays $3,000 net in each of 9 months; holding back $750 per paycheck spreads it evenly across all 12 months.
Fellowship in an expensive city
After a 15% tax set-aside a $42,000 fellowship gives $2,975 a month, but $3,180 of living costs leaves a $205 monthly shortfall — about $2,460 a year to cover.
Frequently asked questions
Is a graduate stipend taxable?+
In the US, stipends for teaching or research work are taxable wages, and fellowship stipends are generally taxable income too, even though tax is often not withheld. For degree candidates, the part of a fellowship used for tuition, required fees, books and supplies can be tax-free, but any part paid for teaching or research services is taxable (IRS Publication 970). Rules differ by country, so check with your graduate school.
How much tax should I set aside from a fellowship?+
It depends on your filing status, state and other income, so estimate your actual federal and state liability (or ask your graduate school’s tax resources) and enter that share. If nothing is withheld you may need to pay quarterly estimated tax to avoid an underpayment penalty.
How do I budget a 9-month stipend over 12 months?+
Divide the yearly net stipend by 12 to get your real monthly budget, and save the difference between each paycheck and that figure. Over nine months that is one-quarter of each paycheck.
What is a livable PhD stipend?+
A common benchmark is that rent should stay below about 30–40% of take-home pay. Compare offers using this calculator with local rent rather than headline stipends, because a higher stipend in an expensive city can leave less to live on.
Results are estimates for educational purposes and are not financial advice. Rates, fees and terms vary — confirm with your lender or a licensed advisor before making decisions.