Student View: Financial success as a graduate student
Courtesy photo
Lexi Heger is a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and the Molecular Plant Sciences program. She currently serves as the president for SPORE, the Student Phytopathological Organization for Research and Education, through Plant Pathology.
As I started as the SPORE president this year, I knew I wanted to do some sort of useful collaborative event with my dual degree program of Molecular Plant Sciences. Graduate student finances are often poorly discussed while being largely unique. Many times, the RA/TA stipend or fellowship is the first time students are independently managing their finances, which is often not a large sum to live off. I knew this issue was a common ground for many grad students.
After searching within Michigan State University for a speaker to come speak the plant sciences graduate students, I outsourced based on recommendations and personal experience to Dr. Emily Roberts of Personal Finance for PhDs. The Molecular Plant Sciences program, led by current director Dr. Jianping Hu, graciously funded the entire workshop, with support from The Graduate School, to aid graduate students after hearing my concerns about the lack of education revolving around our finances. Then, Emily and I worked together to decide on and modify a workshop to best fit our students’ needs. She worked with me one on one to get an idea of what makes our students unique and how she can best work with them.
The title of the workshop was advertised as Financial Wellness with an emphasis on “How to Set and Achieve Financial Goals as a Graduate Student or Postdoc.” This workshop was set up for anyone/everyone who: 1) is currently saving money (even $5/month) and wants to be more confident that they are using it in the best way possible, or 2) aspires to save money to gain financial security and/or build wealth. It was designed for graduate students and postdocs who live on modest stipends and salaries, typically in the 12% top federal marginal tax bracket.
By Lexi Heger
We wanted everyone to feel like that could come to this discussion with their unique perspective, and questions could be answered comfortably. Students were given worksheets and other resources to take home with them to continue using. The turnout was a mixture of students from multiple plant science related departments and programs, with more than half being from the MPS program itself. After initially only advertising to MPS students, Dr. Hu agreed that it would be beneficial to invite our plant science-related students and postdocs. Since the workshop, I’ve heard students mention that although basic information was given, it has helped put budgeting and saving strategies on their radar and it provided resources for future financial goals.
Personally, this workshop helped me think towards next steps for my finances, especially as I look forward to graduating in the coming year. Many of my close peers – including a postdoc – from various departments also attended. They have mentioned how useful this workshop was and how it encouraged them to think about their limited finances in new ways to help them save money and spend responsibly. We hope to continue to invite Emily, or a similar speaker, to talk with future grad students about this important topic.
