How Much Does a Ph.D. Cost?

By

Jane Nam

Updated on February 19, 2025

Edited by

Rebecca Long

• Fact-checked by Marley Rose

Learn more about our editorial process

In 2024, a Ph.D. cost around $50,000 per year on average. But many programs offer competitive packages that offset some or all of the cost.

Credit: Image Credit: Pramote Polyamate / Moment / Getty Images

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), earning a Ph.D. cost an average of $49,500 per year, including tuition and living expenses, in 2020.^{Note Reference [1]} Students typically take 4-8 years to finish a Ph.D. program, so a doctoral degree can cost anywhere from $198,000-$396,000 before grants and assistantships.

But you won’t necessarily end up paying that total cost yourself. Ph.D. students typically receive more financial support than master’s degree or other professional graduate degree students. Programs often offer tuition waivers and stipends in exchange for teaching or research.

In this report, we’ll explore the average cost of a Ph.D. program, common student debt amounts, and the amount students typically receive in funding for their doctoral programs.

Average Cost of a Ph.D.

• According to 2020 data from NCES, the average cost of tuition for a Ph.D. program is $20,600 per year.^{Note Reference [1]}
• Non-tuition-related expenses, such as room and board, books, and supplies, amount to $20,300 on average.^{Note Reference [1]}
• Together, the total cost per year for a doctoral program equals $40,900, or $49,500 in 2024 dollars.^{Note Reference [1]}

However, programs often offer packages that include a tuition waiver and living stipend in exchange for an assistantship. With an assistantship, graduate students may work part time teaching or researching.

Keep in mind that some schools charge higher tuition but offer more competitive stipends and benefits, while others have lower tuition rates and lower stipend amounts. Some programs offer full tuition waivers while others cover partial tuition. It is important to note the wide range of package types that are offered to incoming doctoral students.

Ph.D. Costs Beyond Tuition

Tuition is just a fraction of the total cost of a Ph.D. program. For example, at Florida International University, out-of-state graduate students can expect to pay $39,060 per year before scholarships, grants, and tuition waivers.

Costs can also vary between programs and even between departments at the same school. For example, Cornell University’s humanities and social science departments offered a stipend of $33,930 per year to Ph.D. students in 2025 while its technology department offered a stipend of $42,073 (in part due to the Cornell Tech campus being located in New York City).^[4] Business Ph.D. students at Cornell received an even higher stipend of $46,860.^[5]

Some schools increase stipend amounts with each year a student spends in the program, while others reduce the tuition amount each year.

Paying for a Ph.D.

Ph.D. programs may also offer graduate fellowships or scholarships, which may cover all or some of the program’s costs and may include some work responsibilities.

More Black Americans fund their doctorates with personal resources than other races.

• Nearly 41% of Black American doctorate recipients say their primary source of financial support was “own resources” compared to 19% of white recipients and 13% of Asian students.^{Note Reference [2]}
• A high percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native students (33%) also said the same.^{Note Reference [2]}

Female students, too, are more likely to report paying for their Ph.D. with personal resources than men (19% vs. 11%). They are less likely than men to use research assistantships or traineeships as the primary source of funding for their program (30% vs. 41%).

Ph.D. Student Loan Debt

Student loan and debt amounts for Ph.D. students differ widely between fields. Math and computer science doctoral students, for example, graduated with $15,000 in debt on average in 2023, while education students graduated with $55,000 in debt.^{Note Reference [2]}

Overall, roughly one-fifth of doctoral recipients (21%) graduated with over $30,000 in debt. However, percentages vary by field.^{Note Reference [2]}

Broken down by race and ethnicity, Black or African American doctoral recipients graduated with the highest percentage of debt over $30,000, and Asian doctoral recipients graduated with the least.^{Note Reference [2]}

• Over three-fifths of Black or African American doctoral recipients (63%) received their degrees with over $30,000 in debt.^{Note Reference [2]}
• 35% of Hispanic and Latino/a students graduated with debt over $30,000.^{Note Reference [2]}
• Black and African American doctorate recipients had a median debt amount of $95,000, nearly triple the overall median of $35,000.^{Note Reference [2]}
• Asian students graduated with the lowest median debt amount of $25,000.^{Note Reference [2]}
• Around 28% of white students graduated with more than $30,000 in debt.^{Note Reference [2]}

Cost of Professional Doctorates

This article focuses on research doctorates, however, professional doctorates such as doctor of medicine (MD), juris doctor (JD), and doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degrees can also be costly. These doctorates prepare students for specific professional practice and often come with higher price tags.

• According to 2020 data from NCES, the average cost of a professional doctorate was $55,020 per year for public institutions and $71,880 for private.^[6]
• The average price of tuition and fees was $30,890 at public schools and $43,070 at private.^{Note Reference [6]}
• Non-tuition expenses, such as housing and textbooks, came out to $24,140 per year at public institutions and $28,810 at private schools on average.^{Note Reference [6]}

In 2024 dollars, the average cost of a professional doctorate comes out to $66,650 per year at public institutions and $87,070 at private ones.^{Note Reference [6]}