That's right, Teek. In my institute, it is customary that a person who has defended his/her PhD becomes a post-doc with a large increase in salary the day following the defense. So, yeah, the question is, why commute two hours a day for a job I make as much at as Starbucks?

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Don't let the b******s suck the life out of you. Stick it to them by finishing.

Substantially less..I receive a full tuition waiver and a $25,000/yr stipend. Some health insurance costs are covered Here in the US, you could look to pay something like $800-1000 a year at the university I attend (including fees and the remainder of health insurance). The amount you're paying is patently absurd. Your university should be ashamed.

I'm not sure what kind of research you want to do, but if you want to be an academic and play the grant game, you won't be able to do that successfully/independently without a PhD in the US. In my line of work (think "hard" science), a PhD typically comes with a tuition waiver and a small stipend to help you cover living expenses. Hope this helps.

I have recently defended my thesis (successfully). I am sticking around for a couple of months so that my fiance can finish her PhD, and my advisor has agreed to keep me on. Prior to the defense, my advisor stated that he would substantially increase my salary the day after I passed my defense-- I currently am making $12.60/hour. However, when the time came, he backed down and has refused me the salary increase (which I was really counting on to help me move). Can anyone tell me if following the defense a person typically receives a raise? Any suggestions on getting the raise? Since I hit the cycle by passing my defense in January and the actual graduation is in May, am I a PhD, or not until the actual hooding ceremony?? Thanks for your input.