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Average age of a phd student: when is it too late, published by steve tippins on june 16, 2022 june 16, 2022.

Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 02:36 am

In 2020, the average age of a graduate from a PhD program in the United States was 33. However, 6% of the graduates were over 45. 

When people ask what the average age of a PhD student is, many times they’re really asking, “Am I too old to get a PhD?” The answer is almost always no. Let’s explore some different scenarios. 

When Is It Too Late to Get a PhD?

As an academic career coach, I’ve been asked by more than a few people if it’s too late for them to get a PhD. Some of these people were even in their twenties, worried that working for two years after their undergraduate degree had inexorably barred them from the halls of academia. 

Others were past middle age, looking for a career change. In either case, the answer is ultimately no, it’s not too late to get a PhD . However, there are some important things to keep in mind if this is something you’re considering.

Getting a PhD for Your Career

Let’s say you want to get a PhD to pursue a career in academia or elsewhere. You enter a PhD program at 25 or even 30, the average PhD duration takes six to eight years. That means you will finish when you are around 30 to 37. The normal retirement age to get Social Security in the United States is 67, so that’s at least 30 years ahead of you – lots of time for your career. If you look around academia, there’s a lot of people older than 67.

You have a chance for a very long career, even if you’re 42 and finish your PhD at 50. That’s still over 15 years before retirement age. These days, very few people stay at a job for 15 years. Rest assured that you have ample opportunity to have a meaningful career.

Over 50% of doctoral candidates don’t finish their dissertations.

Student Loan Debt Considerations

If you’re 61 and taking loans out, it will be a while before you pay those off. Debt is something to think about before getting a PhD. If you can get into a PhD program that pays your tuition or even provides you a stipend, you may be able to graduate with a much smaller student loan debt. That assistance could allow you to consider a PhD later in life. 

What Is the Minimum Age for Getting a PhD?

To get a PhD, you have to have graduated from undergraduate school. From there, some people can go right into a PhD program. If you graduate at the traditional age of 22, you’d be getting your PhD somewhere around age 25 at a minimum.

There are stories about people who graduate from high school at 12 and college at 16. They could theoretically get their PhD at 19 or 20. However, people like this are quite rare.

Can You Get a PhD by Age 25?

It is possible to get a PhD by age 25, particularly if you graduate from college at 21 or 22. If it takes three or four years to get a PhD, you could graduate by 25.

What Is The Best Age to Get a PhD?

The best age to get a PhD is three years ago. The second best time is now. In reality, the best age to get a PhD is whenever you are able to complete it. The earlier you finish your PhD, the more of a life and career you’ll have with it , but there is no optimal age.

Does Having a Master’s Shorten the Time it Takes to Get a PhD?

Having a Master’s can shorten the time it takes to get a PhD , depending on your discipline. If PhD programs in your discipline are structured such that they assume you have a Master’s before you enter, then yes, you’re going to finish a PhD faster. 

If you enter without a Master’s, you may have to get the Master’s first to be allowed in the PhD program. Otherwise, you may have to take some remedial coursework. If your discipline is not set up in that manner, having a Master’s may not allow you to move faster.

Final Thoughts

As society ages and with employers having problems finding eligible workers, the problem of ageism will become less severe. Getting a PhD at any age is going to be a viable option. If you are interested in a PhD and it’s something you have a burning desire to do, don’t let age stop you. 

Are you considering getting your PhD? We’re here to help. Check out our Dissertation Coaching and Academic Career Coaching services.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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What is the PhD student average age? Too late for your doctorate?

You may be worried about being too old to start a PhD. However, I would like to remind you that throughout my 15 years in academia, I have seen PhD students fresh from undergraduate and many mature age students who are looking for a new challenge or doing a PhD alongside their current role.

The average age of a PhD student varies depending on the field of study and individual circumstances but generally ranges from late 20s to early 30s. The average age upon graduation across multiple fields, in the US, is 31.5 years old.

This suggests that many students may start a PhD program directly after completing their undergraduate degree. However, there are many that pursue a PhD after working in their field for a few years.

I have seen that some students may take longer to complete their PhD due to personal or professional obligations. And overcoming these issues is as much of a challenge as their actual PhD.

If you like more information about the average age of a PhD student check out my YouTube video below.

In this article, we will look at the average age of PhD students and grab some data from universities.

One thing I want to say upfront, however, is do not worry about your age. There are many other things that are full more important than your age for completing a PhD. I have seen young PhD students struggle far more than mature age students.

Maturity and having things settled in your life can really help provide the stability required for finishing a PhD.

What Is The Average Age Of PhD Students?

 The average age of PhD students is quite varied, depending on the field of study.

Generally speaking however, the average age of a PhD student can range from 27 to 37 years old.

You can see in the table, below, that physical sciences and earth sciences PhD graduates are typically younger than those in other fields . This is because of the culture of going straight from your undergraduate into a PhD.

On the other hand, education PhD graduates are much older . This is because they typically have many more years of first-hand experience teaching in a high school or another educational environment. This delays the onset of their PhD admission significantly compared to other fields.

If you want to know more about age and grad school check out my other articles:

• Typical Graduate Student Age [Data for Average Age]
• Older PhDs student experiences – should you pursue a PhD later in life?
• What is the average masters students age? Should you return to graduate school?
• Balancing PhD and family life – tips for balancing a busy life

What age do most people get their PhD?

The age at which most people receive their PhD varies from person to person, but typically falls between the mid-twenties and early thirties.

The average age for a PhD recipient is approximately thirty-one and a half years old.

Of course, there are some who complete their PhD much earlier or later than this.

Many students complete their studies in their twenties, while others may spend longer due to life or work commitments.

Those who are already established in a career may only begin studying for a PhD once they reach middle age.

Although the age of most recipients is usually between twenty-five and thirty-five, it is important to remember that everyone’s journey will be different, so it’s important not to put pressure on yourself to finish within any particular timeframe.

Here is a list of fields and the average age upon graduation. That means, the age at which they start their PhD is 5 – 7  years earlier.

I graduated my PhD when I was 27 years old. This is due to a couple of reasons:

• I did a four-year undergraduate masters which accelerated my entrance to a PhD.
• I did my PhD in Australia which typically takes 3 to 4 years.
• I was classed as an international student and therefore had to finish under three years otherwise I have had to pay $20,000.

All of these reasons meant that I was very young to complete my doctorate. However, throughout my later post-Doctoral positions I encountered people from every age bracket doing a PhD.

Importantly, it is never too late to get a PhD – here’s why.

When Is It Too Late to Get a Doctorate?

In my opinion, it is never too late to get a PhD, as long as you’re willing to commit the time and effort into pursuing an academic career.

I have seen older PhD students thrive in academia because they are working towards something they really care about.

One of the most important aspects is to make sure that you are prepared for the financial burden, as getting a PhD involves taking on loans or debt in order to fund the program.

Sometimes, older students have greater financial responsibilities such as mortgages and debt. Being mindful of your decreased earning power will help make your time during your PhD much nicer.

Some other aspects of getting a doctorate in later years include:

• greater financial responsibility for family
• ageing parents requiring care
• children or other dependent people
• mortgage stress
• lifestyle expectations – going back to a student lifestyle may not be for every older PhD student.

Entering a PhD program with this in mind will help make sure that you are able to focus on your studies and minimise the distractions.

What Is The Best Age to pursue a doctoral degree?

There is no best age to pursue a doctoral degree as the best age to get a PhD depends on the individual’s circumstances.

For me, it was best for me to enter my PhD straight out of university. That is when I had the most financial security and energy and interest in pursuing a PhD.

For other people – career goals, interests, and motivation to do a PhD may happen at a later stage in their life.

Although, you can do a PhD too early.

Generally, it is recommended that students wait until they are at least 22 or 23 to pursue their PhD, as this gives them time to gain some life experience and an opportunity to develop and refine their academic skills.

Those who are pursuing a PhD later in life may find that having more years of work experience can be beneficial when it comes to finishing their studies.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to determining the best age to get a PhD; each person’s situation will be unique and you should factor that into your decision.

Is 30 plus too old for a PhD?

When it comes to deciding whether or not 30 is too old for a PhD, the answer depends on the individual.

 A PhD requires a great deal of dedication and commitment, so if you are willing to make that kind of commitment, then age should not be an issue.

Many people have entered into doctoral programs later in life and achieved success.

There are also some advantages to being a mature student;

• life experience
• Writing practise
• A better understanding of your field
• Professional experience to draw upon
• Better networks

All of which can be beneficial when completing research or writing your dissertation.

That being said, it is important to consider how much time you will need to dedicate to your studies, as well as other commitments such as work and family. If you feel like you can manage both, then 30 and above is absolutely not too old for a PhD!

Wrapping up

This article has covered everything you need to know about the average age of PhD students. It is field dependent and many PhD students are typically in their 20s to early 30s.

Even though many people get a PhD straight out of their undergraduate, there are many benefits for older people to consider becoming a PhD student.

The personal challenges may be slightly different but the underlying challenge of creating new novel research and communicating that to the world via peer-reviewed papers and theses are the same.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

2024 © Academia Insider

5 Reasons To Pursue a PhD at Mid or Late Career

By Dr. Vicki Johnson 

Are you ever too old to start a PhD program? I undertook my PhD in my mid-30s, and over the years, I’ve successfully mentored many mid to late-career professionals through acceptance to PhD programs. I’m often asked, Is it too late for me to apply to a PhD? Am I at a disadvantage because of my advanced age?

I want to share with you why it is absolutely not too late to pursue a PhD at mid-career or late-career, and why your experience actually puts you at an advantage in the competitive application process. I’ll also provide some key tips on what you need to know about undertaking a PhD at mid or late-career. 

Reason #1: There are no age limits to PhD programs, nor is age a factor in selection.

Many people believe that graduate programs have age limits or a bias against older applicants. This is completely untrue! PhD programs do not have age caps for eligibility (nor do master’s programs), and most universities welcome qualified applicants of all ages who will benefit from the program’s academic training mission. The myth of age bias may stem from the fact that graduate programs have more early-career students, but this is primarily because graduate programs receive many more early-career applicants than mid and late-career applicants. 

If you look closely at PhD programs, you’ll find people of all ages, including PhD students in their 40s, 50s, 60’s (and older!) . In my own PhD cohort at Massey University, there were students from a wide age range, including two PhD students over the age of 60. It truly is a myth that graduate school is only for early-career candidates.

PhD programs tend to attract fewer mid and late-career candidates for a number of reasons. First, some candidates are held back by the myth that they are not qualified or competitive. Also, a PhD typically takes four to six years to complete as a full-time student (and much longer as a part-time student). Many people at mid- and late-career are unable or unwilling to leave work to commit to an academic program of this length. 

In addition, there is a financial impact. Even when you enter a fully funded PhD program that covers your tuition and provides a living stipend, the annual stipends generally range from $15,000 to $45,000 USD per year. It’s important to understand how the pursuit of a PhD will impact your lifestyle and expenses before getting started. 

ProFellow Tip: Research what a PhD entails before beginning your pursuit. Speak with older PhD candidates to best understand the nature of the coursework, dissertation expectations, compensation and financial impacts, and other pros and cons of pursuing a PhD at mid-career. Dr. Sara McBride wrote a great piece for ProFellow, How to Do a PhD Later in Life: A Primer on What to Expect .

Reason #2: You can be PAID to achieve your PhD. 

Student debt is at crisis levels in the United States. 42 million Americans have in total $1.4 trillion in student debt, and Brookings estimates that half of this debt is held by the small percentage of students who went to graduate school. Many people choose not to pursue graduate study because they can’t afford to take on tens of thousands of dollars of debt . But what many people don’t know is that there are many graduate programs that will PAY you to attend! 

Many universities offer “full funding” to their PhD students (as well as some masters students). Full funding is a funding package from the university, usually offered at acceptance, that includes a full or partial tuition waiver and an annual stipend for living expenses for the four to six years a student is in the doctoral program. These are funding packages ranging in value from $50,000 to nearly $400,000! 

In most cases, fully-funded PhD students are expected to serve in a Graduate Assistantship. This is a part-time position with the university that consists of 10-20 hours of work per week providing research, teaching, and administrative support to faculty. This work is often complementary to the students’ PhD studies and provides students with valuable teaching experience needed to pursue academic jobs when they graduate.

Full funding is available primarily in full-time, on-campus, research-based graduate programs, particularly PhD and research-based masters programs. I was able to receive full funding as a PhD student at Massey University and achieve my PhD without accruing any student debt. 

Because I had 15 years of work experience and a strong professional network, I was also in a better position than recent graduates to increase my income as a PhD student through consultancies, grant application gigs, and external fellowships.

ProFellow Tip: You can now search and bookmark more than 580 Fully Funded PhD programs in a variety of disciplines in the free ProFellow database ! You can also learn how to successfully apply to fully funded graduate programs at mid or late career. Please register to watch my free online Masterclass: How to Achieve a Top Graduate Degree Debt-Free: The MATCH ME Formula™️

Reason #3: Being an experienced candidate is an advantage.

Some people think being an older applicant puts them at a disadvantage in the PhD application process, but it’s quite the opposite. The biggest fear of PhD selection committees is that the students they select will not complete the 5-year degree. More than 40% of doctoral students don’t complete their PhD dissertation and thus, don’t graduate. 

To be successful in a PhD program, you need to have the organizational skills, motivation, and emotional maturity to work independently on your research dissertation over a period of two to three years. You also need to have a real passion for research! Often early-career candidates enter PhD programs with very little to no research or work experience, and this lack of experience can make it challenging to complete a dissertation successfully. 

Older applicants with life and work experience can be at an advantage because they may have more experience working independently and responding to constructive feedback. Older applicants are often more resourceful and have a broader personal and professional support system. For all these reasons, older applicants can be at an advantage in the competitive PhD application process. 

ProFellow Tip: As an older applicant, be sure to stress in your application and in your recommendation letters how your experience demonstrates your ability to complete your dissertation successfully. No matter what your age is, be sure to express a clear post-PhD career goal such as teaching, a future body of research, or another professional endeavor. 

Reason #4: The research skills you gain from a PhD are valuable in many career tracks, not just in academia.

Even if you don’t want to become a professor or scholar,  pursuing a PhD can be a worthwhile career endeavor. During the course of a PhD you learn how to conduct research, which is a valuable skill in virtually any industry including the corporate, government, and non-profit sectors. All industries use research to make decisions, and all industries seek people with strong research, writing, and analytical skills. Plus, a PhD gives you credo as an expert in your field of study! 

The important thing to know is that when you’re a PhD candidate, you’ll need to undertake your own efforts for professional development and networking. Often PhD programs do not provide career counseling for non-academic career tracks. The good news is, as an experienced student, you may be better prepared for pursuing jobs post-PhD than an early career candidate who has not yet been out in the workforce. 

ProFellow Tip: Seek out organizations that provide professional development training for non-academic career tracks while you are a graduate student, such as Beyond the Tenure Track . 

Reason #5: A PhD CAN be fulfilling.

There is an urban myth that everyone has a terrible PhD experience, and that PhD programs are toxic and unrewarding. This was not my experience. That said, a PhD is not for everyone! The pursuit of a PhD is best suited to people who are highly organized, love to read and write, and enjoy working independently. It is also suited to people who have experience with constructive criticism and are passionate about theory and scholarly research. 

I believe I had a positive PhD experience at Massey University because I pursued my PhD after 15 years of work experience in public policy. I came into my PhD program with strong writing and organizational skills, a network that I was able to leverage for my research, and a well-developed and timely dissertation topic. I also had the financial support of a full funding award and a great PhD advisor and faculty support.  As an experienced student, I understood how to cultivate relationships with professors, because it wasn’t too dissimilar from my experience cultivating professional relationships in my previous work. For all these reasons, I had an extraordinarily positive experience in my PhD program. With the right ingredients, you can too!

At mid to late-career we may feel like we have already learned everything there is to know in our field and that the PhD will be the justification of our expertise. But believe me, you’ll learn a lot about yourself, your resilience, and your worldviews through the pursuit of a PhD. You’ll gain new knowledge and, when you meet the challenge of completing your dissertation, you’ll also gain new confidence in what you can achieve. I would argue that the best time to complete a PhD is at mid and late-career when you have the skills to be successful and a clear notion of the research contribution you want to make. 

If you would like to learn more about fully funded PhD and Master’s programs and how to successfully apply at mid or late career, please register for my free online Masterclass: How to Achieve a Top Graduate Degree Debt-Free: The MATCH ME Formula™️.

© Victoria Johnson / ProFellow, LLC 2022, all rights reserved.

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• CAREER COLUMN
• 06 November 2018

Twenty things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD

• Lucy A. Taylor 0

Lucy A. Taylor earned her zoology PhD from the University of Oxford, UK. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at Save the Elephants in Nairobi, Kenya, and a visiting researcher in the Department of Zoology at Oxford.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Starting a PhD can be tough. Looking back, there are many things I wish I’d known at the beginning. Here, I have curated a list of advice from current PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from the Department of Zoology at my institution, the University of Oxford, UK, to aid new graduate students.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07332-x

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged. You can get in touch with the editor at [email protected].

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• Putting it off? Bring it on! - Starting a PhD in Your Thirties

Starting a PhD later in life can be exciting, but it isn't without its challenges. Emma Burnett has a Masters, four years experience running a start-up. . . and a small child. She explains why she feels now is the time to take on a doctorate.

It was recently my birthday. Thank you, thank you, yes it was a lovely day. Literally, kilos of cake. Gifts. Good friends.

Shortly, I’m due to start my PhD. What does this have to do with my birthday? Well, aside from it being two quite cool things in close succession, it got me doing some basic maths. Turns out, at the end of my PhD I will be, minimum, 37. That’s if I’m lucky. I could be as old as 40, if it’s very part-time or I need to take a break along the way.

Now that’s not particularly old, in the great pattern of time, but I will be over a decade older than most of my research buddies. I am definitely a ‘mature’ student (never mind that you saw me out dancing till dawn the other day).

So, why now?

I didn’t start a PhD right after my Masters. I got kind of busy co-founding a local food startup in Oxford (fun, right?).

It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done, but four years with a startup is exhausting. You’re constantly reacting to change, or putting out fires (both literal and figurative), with little to no time for reflection.

This is my chance to take a step back and reflect on what we were doing, why we did it, whether we had any social impact whatsoever. I’d like to think we did. But I won’t know till I check. Now’s the time for that.

PhD and parenting

In those intervening years, I also had a child. But, she’s two now, goes to nursery, and loves hearing about transformative social change in agriculture (I’m sure she does).

I know this is a bit personal, and we’ve only just met, but I’m only planning on having one child, so actually this is a good time to take the leap into research.

Her formative years will include seeing women in academia, understanding that doctors are not just medics, and getting involved in research as and when she can. Meanwhile, I’ll be kept to strict working hours, and motivated by the fact that I’d quite like a decent salary again. Win, win.

No doubt, approaching a PhD in your 30s makes you stop and consider some complicated stuff, like: Did I waste time when I was younger? Will I be able to keep up with the young whippersnappers? Will I have enough of a career to contribute anything to my field? Will anyone hire me after the PhD, or will I be an old fogey?

And, here’s a toughy – is it fair for me to do this at all when I should be helping pay a mortgage, cover childcare costs, or be a responsible, contributing, consuming adult?

In the same boat?

I wish I could say I had easy answers to these questions (or, like, any answers at all). If you’re in a similar position, I feel you.

And if you’re a sprightly young thing deciding what to do next, know that whilst I fully support you going out and getting ‘real world’ experience, re-entering academia can be rock hard.

You'll be doing things out of a prescribed order, and that’s no easy thing.

Carpe PhDiem (that's 'YOLO' for oldies)

A lengthy chat with a friend convinced me that whilst it is harder now, I'll only live to regret not pursuing this opportunity back when I could. So, in agreement with my partner (and with the tacit consent of my two-year-old), I’ve gone for the ‘sod it, I’m doing it anyway’ approach.

Really, true story, I’ve only got the one life, and I’m doing what I enjoy. And, to cap it all, I’m really proud of myself for getting this far. I intend to work hard, I plan to have a long career, and I refuse to be put off by fear or inertia.

So, mature student in the wings, mama (or papa) wanting to go back and study, thinking of taking on a PhD? Go for it! And, true fact: if you don’t apply, you definitely won’t get in. Be bold. You got this!

Emma Burnett is a PhD student and mum. You can read more about her experiences at Medium .

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The career path of a doctoral student often starts at an early age as new high school graduates understand it’s going to take a long time (typically eight years or more) until they earn the piece of paper and designation that tells them they can begin a career in the field of their choice. However, once you begin working in the world of academics, you’ll run into Ph.D. holders of all ages.

Just because this is the “typical” route doesn’t mean it’s the only one, though. More and more individuals are moving beyond the bachelor's and master's degrees and heading for their doctorate in philosophy at later stages in life. Although it may seem counterintuitive to put all the effort, time, and money into a degree they won’t be able to use for the decades a younger graduate might, the fact is that there are no age limits or restrictions in most countries. If a person has had a goal to obtain their Ph.D., it’s a worthy and valid target that should not be stopped by any age limit cap. In fact, any university that attempts to do so could very well be subject to a lawsuit for ageism, or age discrimination. But before jumping straight into university life in an attempt to earn that Ph.D., there are some things that should be considered first for everyone, regardless of age.

Why Do Many Students Take the Ph.D. Path?

The education required to obtain a Ph.D. is not something a student considers lightly. It takes many years and, often, hundreds of thousands of dollars to get that designation behind your name. Students who start their degree straight out of high school or soon thereafter almost always say the same thing: they want to do something impactful with the rest of their lives. Graduate school gives them a direction to go in which they can challenge their intellect and integrate that with a cognitive and emotional career path that lets them make a difference in society.

Older students who return to school later in life have a different mix of reasons for their new interest in getting their PhD. Many of them want to further their careers after stagnating with their current degree. They’re ready to take a risk and invest in their education in order to move ahead in the future. Some have personal goals they have put on hold to have a family or for other reasons, but they have chosen that time as when they are ready to go back and reach their goals. Yet others are on a search for meaning in a certain area, or in life in general, and head back to school determined to learn more about human behavior, psychology, and other intellectual fields.

Things to Consider Before Choosing to Apply for a Doctoral Degree

There are no age restrictions on a doctoral degree. In fact, the youngest Ph.D. graduate on record currently is Kim Ung-Yong, a South Korean professor who earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering at the young age of 15! On the other extreme is Charles Betty, the United Kingdom graduate who, earning his Ph.D. at 95 years of age, is currently the oldest doctoral graduate in the world.

These extreme graduates are rare. The majority of students who take the Ph.D. path end up graduating around the age of 26 or 27 if they take the traditional path of high schools, undergraduate, and Master’s degrees.

At that point, anyone looking to continue their education and obtain a Ph.D. should consider certain aspects to ensure they are on the right path, such as:

●      The quality of life they will have while they are attending graduate school. A Ph.D. program is all-encompassing and it’s hard to have a job and/or a personal life while you’re immersed in your education.

●      The degree program that suits your career field. With that much time, effort, and money invested, the degree you choose should be something you want to do with the rest of your life.

●      The cost of the program. Will what you’ll be doing pay you enough to live the style of life you want to have and cover your student loan payments?

●      The time you’ll be spending on your coursework and dissertation. Are you prepared to put the effort into researching, experimenting, and writing that a Ph.D. requires?

While a Ph.D. is an honorable career and education goal, it’s not for everyone. No matter how old you are, consider these essential characteristics that go hand-in-hand with every Ph.D. path you might take, and be sure you’re ready for them before you start the process.

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Academia & mental health

Doing a PhD in your 30s

Over time, I’ve seen quite a few tweets from people asking whether one should do a PhD in their 30s and what it is like. I personally am of the opinion that it is never too late for education, including a PhD, and when it came to me making a decision to do one at the age of 29 it did not even occur to me that I might be ‘too old’. However, at that time I was single and without children, so the decision seemed a lot simpler. Nevertheless, there are a few things I learned along the way about doing a PhD from the age of 29 until 35 (yes it took me 6 years to finish) that I’d like to share with you.

Let’s start with the positives!

The major benefit of starting a PhD at 29 was that I was more mature – it’s a fairly obvious one I know, but in hindsight it was important. It meant that I (mostly) knew what I wanted and why I was doing a PhD. I had already tried other careers and was quite certain that a career in academia would be a good long-term fit for me and I was not wrong.

Also, because I had had a career before starting this degree, I had work experience which helped me not only with the PhD itself but also in the work I was doing alongside the PhD. I was self-funded which meant that I had to work part-time, and in my first year I worked as supply teacher in secondary schools; a job I was able to get thanks to my previous teaching qualifications. Later when I started working as a teaching assistant in my Department, the teaching qualification and experience also came in very handy. My previous work experience helped me build a profile for myself as a reliable and effective employee, which in turn helped me find employment after the PhD. This is, of course, not to say that if you don’t have work experience you won’t be a reliable employee, but rather that in my case I noticed it as a benefit.

I was more confident too as a lot of the insecurities about my looks and persona that I had in my teens and early 20s were mostly gone by 29. I felt right in my own skin, if that makes sense. Previous work experience in a job that I loved also enabled me to find out what I was good at and what were my potential weaknesses, which helped me in my PhD when it came to e.g., picking a topic or deciding on the methodology. Knowing who I was and being overall quite confident was also important in the fight against the imposter syndrome, which like with most people kicked in for me too. At those times it was useful to be able to remind myself that there were other things I was good at and that no matter what happened with the PhD that wouldn’t change. 

Although when you start your academic career later in life it means that some of your colleagues who are younger or the same age as you might be further along in their careers, don’t let that bother you. I personally find my own Department to be rather diverse in terms of staff ages and when people made a start in academia and that’s great. I found it rather refreshing that I was given the choice to completely change my career and start a PhD at 29 and that has never been an issue for me in terms of age or being ‘a late starter’.

Nevertheless, there were some negatives too which are worth sharing and considering. 

Overall, I think my previous career was a big help during the PhD but having had a job/career before also meant that it was fairly difficult to adjust to the PhD way of life/work as it is a lot less structured and with a lot less accountability to other people. I really missed having co-workers and meaningful deadlines, and it took me quite a while to figure out what routine worked best for me. Finding a routine also meant getting back into being a student again and all that this entails, like reading and writing academic papers, improving my concentration and sitting long hours at a desk. It had been a while since I did all that for my BA and MA, but eventually I got the hand of it.

Another important consideration are finances. I personally went from having a decent and steady salary to spending my savings on my PhD and working multiple part-time jobs. This is a bit different if you are funded, but even then the stipends are usually not large enough to allow for comfortable living. I would say that in most cases, the PhD years will mean living on a tighter budget. Especially, if you are coming from a well-paid and steady job, you may find this change in your financial circumstances a bit tough. 

I guess a fairly important consideration when starting a PhD later in life is family, whether you already have one or you are planning for one. I personally left family planning until after I finished my PhD and found a job, as I found it too much to be thinking about both at the same time. However, I know of many PhD colleagues who have had a baby during the PhD or started the PhD with children.  

What I want to say at the end of this post is that regardless of at what age you start your PhD, it will come with its unique challenges. However, none of these challenges are unsurmountable, especially if you are reasonably prepared for them and know what to expect. As I said at the start, I don’t believe that one is ever too old to do a PhD so if that’s what you really want to do, go for it!

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What Is The Age Limit for A PhD?

• By Dr Harry Hothi
• August 17, 2020

Introduction

I have seen and personally worked with PhD candidates of all ages, some older than me, some younger. In all my time within academia, I haven’t come across any university that places a limit on the age of an individual that wants to apply for and pursue a full time doctoral degree; indeed the practice of doing so would be rightly considered a form of discrimination at most academic institutions and even against the law in some countries.

However, a quick search on Google is enough to see that the question about age limits for doing a PhD is something that is asked quite often. This leads me to believe that there are many very capable potential doctoral candidates in the world that haven’t pursued their dreams of academic research almost entirely because they believe that they’re too old to do so.

There is No Age Limit for Doing a PhD

Simply put there is no age limit for someone considering doing a PhD. Indeed, on the opposite end of the scale, even the definition of a minimum’ age at which someone can start a PhD is not really well defined.

One of the youngest PhD graduates in recent times is thought to be Kim Ung-Yong who is a South Korean professor who purportedly earned a PhD in civil engineering at the age of 15 [1]. For the vast majority however, the practical considerations of progressing through the different stages of education (i.e. high school, undergraduate degree, a Master’s degree, etc.) mean that most won’t start their PhD projects until they’re at least in their early to mid 20’s; in the UK, for example, the average age for a PhD graduate is between 26 and 27 years old [2].

Meanwhile, the oldest person to be awarded a PhD degree in the United Kingdom is thought to be 95 year old Charles Betty, who gained his doctorate from the University of Northampton in 2018 after completing his 48,000 word thesis on why elderly expats living in Spain decide to return to the UK’ [3].

What does the data say?

According to data published by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a total of 54,904 people earned PhDs at universities in the United States of America in 2016; 46% of all new doctorates were women and 31% were international candidates [4].

Looking at the age distributions available for 51,621 of these new PhD graduates in 2016, 44% (n=22,863) were aged 30 or below, 43% (n=22,038) were aged between 31 and 40 and 13% (n=6,720) were over the age of 40 when they were awarded their doctoral degree. In this same year, over 50% of PhD students in subjects related to physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, mathematics, computer sciences and engineering were below the age of 31, whilst less than 10% of these STEM graduates were older than 41.

Conversely, 61% of PhDs in humanities and arts and 52% in other non-engineering and science disciplines gained their doctorates between 31 and 40 years of age. Interestingly, the analysis by the NSF found that 94% of doctoral candidates aged below 31 supported their research financially through research or teaching assistantships, grants or fellowships. Only 36% of PhDs aged over 41 at graduation reported receiving similar types of financial support; approximately 50% of this age group were found to have self-funded their studies.

The reasons for fewer doctoral candidates aged over 41 receiving external funding to support their time as research students is not clear. On the face of it, the data may appear to suggest a bias towards funding younger students which unfortunately may be the case in some instances. In Germany, for example, the German Federal Training Assistance Act (BAfG) provides funding support for higher education but places a limit of 30 years for undergraduate degrees and 35 years for postgraduate students at graduate school. However, another explanation, at least in some cases, may be that non-STEM related subjects are less likely to be associated with specific project funding and NSF analysis suggests PhDs in these subjects are more often undertaken by older doctoral candidates.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

No one should be discouraged from pursuing a PhD program or entering into higher education based on how old they are and indeed there are several (albeit subjective) benefits and disadvantages of doing a PhD in your younger’ or older’ years.

A perceived advantage may be that gaining a PhD in your 20’s can potentially give you more time to develop your career. Younger doctoral students could earn their PhD and enter into academic jobs before starting a family (although many people successfully carry out doctoral research whilst also looking after young children). You could even afford yourself the time and flexibility to implement a career change further down the line if you so wanted.

Conversely, entering a graduate school and becoming a PhD student in later years means that you’ll be doing so having gained a lot more life experience and for some STEM research projects in particular, having work experience in industry can be invaluable. As an older PhD candidate you’re likely to be better equipped to work independently and the relationships / connections you’ll have built over time may be a useful factor in helping you progress faster. I’ve met several older students at university who had the opportunity to undertake PhD research years ago but have no regrets in having waited and started the adventure in later years.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

It’s inevitable that the question of age limits for pursing a PhD is going to invite some controversial opinions from some people; this unfortunately may always be the case when talking about differing social and demographic factors.

There’s no doubt however that PhD programs can help career advancement or a career change regardless of age however there’s also nothing to stop you from becoming a graduate student just for the academic pursuit!

The answer here is very simple: there is no age limit for doing a PhD.

[1] http://scienceandnaturea.blogspot.com

[2] https://www.eui.eu/

[3] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

[4] https://ncses.nsf.gov/

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Starting PhD in US Universities at 27 - Is it Too Late?

• Thread starter iorfus
• Start date Sep 5, 2012
• Tags Age Phd
• Sep 5, 2012
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A PF Asteroid

This shouldn't be a problem. I know many graduate students in the US who are significantly older than this, and it is against the law for US universities to discriminate on account of age.  

iorfus said: Is it possible to start a PhD in US universities when you are 27?

I have heard that US universities do not discriminate by age. Does that mean that they are really not interested in the age of the applicant?

I will finish my Physics BS right near turning 32 (graduation is generally around my birthday) and whenever I bring up my age with my adviser and professors (one of which is my age...): they say that the maturity and experience that I bring with my age can be a boon. They are not the least bit pessimistic about my getting a PhD because of my age. If you take a peek around the forums - there are quite a few others taking the 'non traditional' track towards a PhD.  

• Sep 6, 2012

Thanks for the numerous answers !  

• Sep 7, 2012

iorfus said: Hi! P.S. I am still 23, but I think I will spend next two years getting a Master from a major UK university. Then I suppose I should use one year for GRE before applications. So I would apply when I am 26.

Thanks for advice! Actually this year I am going to follow the last year of a 4-year degree this year, and I hope I will be admitted to a MPhil next year. I have no research experience(it is almost the rule for undergraduater student in my country), so I am planning to do research in the second year at the UK institution I am enrolling at through the MPhil degree. My mother tongue is not English so I think I would need more time to prepare for the GRE generale. RE PGRE, I think I would need a high score and I am a perfectionist I couldn't take it with a preparation of a few months while I am studying full time. This is just my current plan however.  

iorfus said: Thanks for advice! Actually this year I am going to follow the last year of a 4-year degree this year, and I hope I will be admitted to a MPhil next year. I have no research experience(it is almost the rule for undergraduater student in my country), so I am planning to do research in the second year at the UK institution I am enrolling at through the MPhil degree. My mother tongue is not English so I think I would need more time to prepare for the GRE generale. RE PGRE, I think I would need a high score and I am a perfectionist I couldn't take it with a preparation of a few months while I am studying full time. This is just my current plan however.

• Sep 10, 2012

iorfus said: Hi! Is it possible to start a PhD in US universities when you are 27? Having a Master from a major university. Is it too late?

A PF Molecule

Started mine at 28. Only had a bachelor's + 6 years working experience. It's a bit of a transition, people that have been in academia for too long are kind of strange sometimes.  

Related to Starting PhD in US Universities at 27 - Is it Too Late?

1. is 27 years old considered too old to begin a phd program in the us.

No, 27 years old is not considered too old to start a PhD program in the US. Many students begin their PhD studies in their late 20s or even in their 30s. Age is not a determining factor in the admissions process, and what matters most is your academic background and potential for research.

2. Will starting a PhD program at 27 put me at a disadvantage compared to younger students?

No, starting a PhD program at 27 will not put you at a disadvantage compared to younger students. In fact, your life experiences and maturity may give you an advantage in your studies and research. Admissions committees look for a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives in their PhD candidates.

3. Will I be able to catch up with my younger peers who have already started their PhD programs?

Yes, you will be able to catch up with your younger peers who have already started their PhD programs. PhD programs are designed to be completed in 4-6 years, and all students progress through the same coursework and research milestones. Your age will not affect your ability to succeed and excel in your studies.

4. Are there any specific challenges that I may face as an older PhD student?

As an older PhD student, you may face some challenges such as balancing your academic responsibilities with other life commitments, adapting to a new learning environment, and building relationships with younger peers. However, these challenges can be managed with good time management, communication, and support from your academic advisors and peers.

5. Will my age affect my job prospects after completing my PhD?

No, your age will not affect your job prospects after completing your PhD. Employers value the skills, knowledge, and research experience gained during a PhD program, regardless of the age of the candidate. Your age may even be seen as an advantage as it demonstrates your dedication and commitment to your studies.

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How getting a ph.d. prepared me to run a startup.

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Sam Mehrbod (Ph.D.) is a Top Producer Realtor, Investor and CEO at  Roomvu , a Content Factory empowering Realtors with Videos on Social Media

When I started at the University of British Columbia to do a Ph.D. in project management in 2010, I was excited about a shiny path in academia. The path looked solid at the beginning: I'd finish a 4-year program, get a job and live a (somewhat) stress-free life. But one month into the program, it hit me. The reality was that there were too many Ph.D.s for too few tenure-track jobs. Not only did the planned four years take 6.5 years on average in our department, but most graduates also had to stay as post-doctorates (call it a Ph.D. student upgrade) for another couple of years. 

I would have loved to stay in academia, but I wasn't willing to spend a decade being an academic nomad. Right at the beginning, I realized this path was not for me and started learning new skills and doing side hustles. I did everything from DJing at events and weddings to building houses, becoming a realtor and co-funding a mid-size property technology startup. In the end, it took me eight years to finish my Ph.D., and to this date, I am grateful to my Ph.D. supervisor for bearing with me patiently while I finished the program. There were some key lessons throughout the eight-year Ph.D. that taught me how to run a startup. Here are some of these lessons that have helped me build my company:

1. The trial-and-error process and adaptability are key.

Anyone who has done a research project (especially a Ph.D.) remembers those painful moments of learning through trial and error. These are the times when you think you'll never succeed. You keep on driving research questions and figuring out the hypothesis. You go to your advising committee, and they keep giving you the answer "no." Then you have these "eureka" moments that show up after months (in my case, years) of trying.

The same holds true with a startup idea. You have this great idea and keep pouring resources into it, and when the product launches, no one cares. I learned that the hard way. We kept on building great tools in our first two startups that no one used. Even to this day, I always say to our team that adaptability in a startup and particularly in the founding team is the key to getting through tough times. As a team, we set up milestones, and we all excitedly paddle through and launch the products. And then it hits us: Only a handful of our users use the feature and find it helpful. We see the reality that no one cares about our new tool. We get upset, decompress and keep on building something else. The lesson is to keep trying until you (and your team) get it right.

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2. Identify the problems before setting to solve them.

This may sound simple, but trust me, finding a problem is sometimes way harder than coming up with a solution to an existing problem. I remember the early days when my Ph.D. supervisor told me to stop thinking like an engineer and start doing research. Coming from an engineering background, this is among the hardest things I had to do. From the get-go, we learn to solve the problems and most software developers like me want to come up with a solution to the problem almost immediately. Finding the problem in my thesis meant watching a 1,000-hour video series of my research subjects. I documented every interaction they had with various tools and objectively observed while resisting the urge to draw conclusions. 

The very same principle holds true in the startup world. Most of your customers don't really know what the problem is until you present them with a new solution. As Henry Ford has been known for saying, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Many founders think they have found "the problem." They then start building solutions immediately, and many fail just as quickly. Learning what the problem is requires you to spend immense time with your customers. In my case, I had to observe a lot of realtors using our prototypes, sit through customer service calls, skim through emails and conduct usability studies (just like my Ph.D.) to find the problem. I had to objectively document it and then sit with our team to build solutions. 

3. Success is a marathon, not a sprint.

During the thesis, every single day I needed to be consistent with my efforts. Whether it was studying, writing, researching or analyzing, I just needed to show up and keep going. It does not matter whether you're on top of the world or down in the dumps. You need to be persistent. During my Ph.D., I saw many brilliant students who did a great job and aced a presentation or exam but later found they had been burnt out and were no longer pursuing their dream. The same holds true in business. A lot of our competitors got huge media coverage initially but failed to expand their product and stay in business. If you are leading a startup, you should follow revenue-producing activities and provide value to your clients every single day. It is truly a long haul, and success requires your persistence. 

The bottom line is, if you think you do not belong in academia, a certain industry or even a dead-end job and are trying to start a new business, as long as you are adaptable to everyday changes, willing to go through the trial and error process, keen to find the real problems and are persistent enough on your journey, you can find success in your business sooner than later.

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Starting PhD at the age of 25 [closed]

For over an year I have otherwise been pretty active on MathOverflow but for this question I would like to remain anonymous.

I would be starting my grad school in Fall 2011 in the US while in the 25th year of my life. I will be joining a grad school which is ranked by most lists within their top 10.

I have been working and hope to continue to work in areas in theoretical physics which have a strong interface with mathematics, especially geometry.

I understand that most people start their PhD at the age of 22 (or even below!).

I would like to know how does it affect my career, now that I will be getting my PhD around the age of 30. I am very worried and extremely depressed that this is possibly too late to start a PhD. I guess most scientists become faculty by the age of 30 when I would be getting my PhD!

I would be happy to get any feedback/advice about starting PhD so late in life.

• Also can one get a PhD in theoretical physics/mathematics in less than 5 years?
• I have made this question community wiki.
• 50 $\begingroup$ I really doubt it will be any sort of problem. Do good work, and no one will ask how old you are. $\endgroup$ –  Dan Ramras Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 18:10
• 30 $\begingroup$ I honestly think this is not even enough of a rational worry to make for a good question. Voting to close because there is simply no problem here! $\endgroup$ –  Pete L. Clark Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 19:34
• 21 $\begingroup$ If "PhD" in the title were replaced by "training as a figure skater with hopes for the 2016 olympics", then there might be a problem. $\endgroup$ –  Marty Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 20:28
• 17 $\begingroup$ $\lvert 25 - 22 \rvert \ll 25$ $\endgroup$ –  Theo Johnson-Freyd Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 21:29
• 26 $\begingroup$ If you prove a great result 10 years after you graduate, you may be ineligible for a Fields Medal. Aside from that, I don't think it makes any difference. $\endgroup$ –  Peter Shor Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 22:13

9 Answers 9

You are only three years older than those 22 year olds. Three years is nothing! I'm having difficulty understanding why you are extremely depressed about this. I have several friends who entered graduate school at age 25-27; it isn't that uncommon.

How long it will take for you to get your PhD will depend on a number of factors, one of which is the field you would like to work in. Some fields, such as number theory, are notoriously difficult to get into, and it may take longer to arrive at research-level mathematics in those fields (relative to newer or less-established fields). If you are concerned about getting in and getting out quickly you might want to steer yourself towards fields that you feel you could make an earlier contribution to; but really, I think that you are unreasonably worried about your position and that you should just take a deep breath.

In the American system it is possible to get the PhD in 4 years but I believe that 5 years is more common, and some take longer. In contrast, 4 years is the normal time frame in the British and Australian systems.

• 4 $\begingroup$ I quite agree. To me, a 25-year-old is still pretty young. But there is an unfortunately persistent myth that the creative powers begin to wane at age (insert some young age here), which I do not believe at all personally, but it's widespread and the effects of the myth can be quite pernicious. $\endgroup$ –  Todd Trimble ♦ Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 19:17
• $\begingroup$ @Beren: I had exactly the same reaction. 22? 25? What's the difference? It might be different in the OP's graduate school since it appears to be so exclusive, but in mine there was a rather diverse distribution of ages, and no-one really noticed and you had to ask to even realize it. $\endgroup$ –  Thierry Zell Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 21:07
• $\begingroup$ In the Australian system (and probably British too I imagine) you usually get 3 years of funding with the "possibility" (read: certainty) of a 6 month extension. I.e., less than four years. From what I understand in the states the first two years is all course-work with no research. This is not the case in Australia and Britain, where you go straight into research at the beginning. $\endgroup$ –  name Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 1:32

I guess this is not the kind of example you are after, but I couldn’t resist: Brian May has finished his PhD in astrophysics when he was 60.

One of the most highly respected researchers in my own field (category theory and its applications) obtained his PhD at an age close to 40. I really think you shouldn't worry. Dig deep and do good mathematics.

• 2 $\begingroup$ Out of curiosity, who was this? $\endgroup$ –  Sridhar Ramesh Commented Jun 1, 2011 at 19:49
• $\begingroup$ Hi, Sridhar. I'm actually not too sure how much he wants his age publicized (as you know, many mathematicians are sensitive about their ages). If I can verify that his birth year is listed in a fairly well-known text he wrote on category theory, then I'll get back to you. One of his students (or ex-students) is a regular MO contributor, I'll tell you that much (and maybe he'd know whether his adviser would mind at all). $\endgroup$ –  Todd Trimble ♦ Commented Jun 1, 2011 at 20:54

I believe (I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong) that the vast majority of Israeli mathematicians start their PhDs close to that age. The Israeli school is extremely strong (however, as my Israeli friends point out, that might be the reason for why they concentrate in combinatorial fields -- much less baggage than in, say, Algebraic Geometry).

And to add to the list of examples above, Joan Birman started her degree after raising her kids at a time were women did not had a pretty hard time, did very well afterwards, and is very active today (and she is even older than the OP)

• 6 $\begingroup$ I started my undergraund degree at 22, started my PhD at 27, and got my PhD at 32. This is fairly commomn in Israel. I think being a bit more mature is actually helpful in most cases. $\endgroup$ –  Yiftach Barnea Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 19:45
• 5 $\begingroup$ I completely agree with Yiftach. I started my M.Sc. at 25, this last October. If I finish my Ph.D. by 30 I'll be happy about it. Maturity helps A LOT . $\endgroup$ –  Asaf Karagila ♦ Commented Mar 29, 2011 at 23:03

I can't write it as a comment (i do not have enough reputation)According to wikipedia Preda Mihailescu received his phd at the age of 42 and then he proved Catalan's conjecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preda_Mihailescu .So ,i do not think that it is really a matter of age...

The difference between 25 and 22 may seem like a lot at your age, but honestly it's nothing in the context of a life span of 70 years or more. You're certainly not too old to start graduate study and have a very productive career.

Here's a technical point that is tangentially relevant for your question.

Some grant-giving institutions have, among their list of official requirements things like: "The applicant should have received his/her PhD no earlier than two year ago, and no later than 7 years ago" .

As far as applying for those kind of grants is concerned, it is an advantage to have finished your PhD later.

• 6 $\begingroup$ Somehow I feel no one will be eligible for that kind of a grant ;-) $\endgroup$ –  Pandora Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 17:00
• $\begingroup$ @Andre I think you put it conversely. It should read ""no later than 2 years ago and no earlier than 7 years ago." $\endgroup$ –  user48994 Commented Feb 23, 2016 at 15:57
• $\begingroup$ yes, indeed. :-) $\endgroup$ –  André Henriques Commented Feb 23, 2016 at 17:14

Something that can be very satisfying is to acheive a series of long-term goals you have set. Something that can be unsettling is the sense of achieving something unintended or finding that what was previously considered a good goal is not.

The issue of starting a Ph.D. at age 25 versus 22 or some other age is less important (I think) than the issue of whether this fits in with your other personal goals. For example, I can't say that starting a Ph.D. at 25 kept me from starting a family over a decade later, but it probably contributed to the delay. Hindsight shows me the advantages of starting a family earlier than later. There are also issues of employment/financial support, degree to which you spend time not doing academics, etc. If you think you have done a full self evaluation and found that Ph.D. studies fit, good for you; my bet is that you will need to reevaluate your goals on a yearly (if not more frequent) basis.

I do not want to discourage you from a Ph.D. I think that a few hours (days, weeks) spent doing serious thinking and planning now will ensure years of satisfaction to come.

Gerhard "Ask Me About System Design" Paseman, 2011.03.29

In France most of students (in pure mathematics) start their PhD at the age 24. Indeed they get a A level at 18, then they need to study during 5 years to get a master. They could start a PhD just after the master but most of the time they take one year more to pass the "agregation" diplom (a diplom for teaching). So you get 18+5+1=24.

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Why are my student loans in forbearance? Why this legal battle led to surprise notification for millions of borrowers

President Joe Biden's administration has worked to forgive or lower student loan repayments , but now one of the main programs helping millions of Americans is in court and borrowers are in forbearance.

Around eight million people with a Saving On A Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan woke up to an email Friday from companies managing their student loan repayments stating that they were now in forbearance for an undetermined time. And while forbearance isn't a new program, this mass execution of it is.

An administrative stay was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit in St. Louis at the end of July, based on a request by Missouri and six other Republican-led states. This stay blocked Biden's administration from continuing to implement the student debt relief plan, according to reports from USA TODAY .

Here's what it means and why people on the SAVE plan are now in this situation.

What is the SAVE student loan plan?

This repayment plan was meant to help millions of borrowers repay their student loans off in a way that didn't devastate them financially.

The income-driven repayment plan allows those in lower income brackets to pay a smaller monthly amount based on what they make and their family size. It also had a higher income threshold to qualify for $0 monthly payments on eligible loans, but it also required just 5% of the borrower's income after they paid for housing, food, taxes and other necessary bills instead of the typical 10%, according to reports from Forbes .

SAVE also paved the way for student loan forgiveness. Borrows who paid on undergraduate loans for 20 years and/or graduate loans for 25 years could have whatever was still owed on the loan after that time cleared.

What is forbearance?

When it comes to student loans forbearance is when you don't have to make a payment, or you can temporarily make a smaller payment during a certain time period, according to the Federal Student Aid Department with the Department of Education.

In most cases, borrowers need to apply to get a forbearance, but in this case, the Biden administration froze payments as legal battles around the SAVE plan continue.

“Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan will be placed in an interest-free forbearance while our administration continues to vigorously defend the SAVE plan in court,” Miguel Cardona, the secretary of education, said in a statement in July. “The Department will be providing regular updates to borrowers affected by these rulings in the coming days.”

Why is the SAVE plan in court?

The income-driven repayment plan implemented by the Biden administration in 2023 met with stark criticism from Republicans. Soon Republican states were taking the SAVE plan to court

In June, two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri blocked the administration from further implementing the student debt relief plan. These two decisions blocked part of the SAVE plan.

In July, seven state attorney generals led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the 8th Circuit to block the rest of the SAVE Plan. The court did so through a one-page order granting an administrative stay, according to USA TODAY reports.

Bailey on the social platform X hailed the ruling as a "huge win for every American who still believes in paying their own way." He said the student loan plan "would have saddled working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in Ivy League debt."

When do I have to start paying on my student loans again?

Right now, there is no set date for when the forbearance will end and when people will once again have to start paying back their student loans.

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Average age to start a PhD and correlation to future career

Which is the average age in which persons start their PhD? Is this age in some way related to the post PhD plans a person does?

In my (European) experience I have 3 groups of people, with the relative distributions:

• (70% of the total) Those who started right after graduation (let's say when they were 24) without any job experience. Most of them (with exceptions, of course) are a bit fed up with research and willing to try a "real world job experience"
• (25% of the total) Those who started 2,3,4 years later (so between 24 and 29), taking a full time phd. Generally people belonging to this group seem to be more motivated for academic career, even if starting a phd when one is 29 years old might be a bit late (or not?)
• (5%) Those who start in their 40ties with the idea of taking a part time PhD as an out of job activity, and don't plan to leave their job.

Clearly there are all the possible shades between the above categories.

• 15 This seems to be a case of "71% of all statistics are made up on the spot". Anyway, independently of your numbers, it would make sense to me if people who have worked in industry for a few years but decided it is not for them are less likely to long for "real-world experience" than those that never made this experience so far. –  xLeitix Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 15:31
• 1 I imagine it depends a lot on the field. For example, a Ph.D. program in medieval literature, where there is little or no prospect of getting a job afterward, may have a lot of those 40-year-olds. –  GEdgar Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 15:50
• 4 @xLeitix And 93.7% of people believe them whether they are accurate statistics or not . –  BrianH Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 16:30
• @OP, it's not clear what you mean by "started" in some parts of the question. E.g., "started right after graduation (let's say when they were 24)" == graduation from bachelor's program? master's? In my day, you were graduated with BA or BS at age 21 or 22 after 4 years, or MA/MS at 22-24 after 1 or 2 more years, if you weren't going directly into the doctoral program. Starting at 24 would generally be after a couple years in the workforce. –  shoover Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 16:47
• 1 @shoover OP is talking about Europe. Here universities often require a master to enroll in a PhD programme, and studying towards your master usually takes at least 5 years. So no, starting a PhD at 24 is usually pretty much directly after what is considered the "undergrad" around here. –  xLeitix Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 17:55

There are many confounding variables (field of study, country, citizenship status, sex, race/ethnicity, probably many others) that correlate with both age at doctorate (as seen below) and post-PhD plans. This makes it difficult to directly measure the relationship between age and post-PhD plans.

The median age at doctorate varies by country and by field. Here's some OECD data :

It also varies over time. In the US, from 1978-2003, in the science and engineering fields:

And in the non-science and engineering fields:

See this report for more details.

For the US, we have data on the distribution of students' age, not just the median, and it's also broken down by sex, citizenship status, and ethnicity and race. From 2014:

• 7 While strong data for the first part, this is missing the "correlation to future career" part, which I feel is what the OP is really after. –  xLeitix Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 15:35
• 4 @xLeitix This is why we have the one question per post rule. –  ff524 Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 15:37
• 5 If you're going to answer exactly one part of the question, and you're going to justify it by saying that asking two questions is a violation of cite policy, shouldn't you edit away all references to the other question in the OP? Otherwise we'll be permanently left with a dangling unanswered question that can't be asked again lest it be closed as a duplicate of this one. –  user4512 Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 17:10
• Can we subtract the median age at doctorate by the total time to degree to get the median age at PhD start like the question asks? –  Sam Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 17:39
• @Sam: No, not really. They aren't uncorrelated. –  Ben Voigt Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 2:48

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More than 50 police were injured in an outbreak of violence driven by false reports that the suspect in the stabbing attack on a children’s dance class was a migrant.

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Reporting from London and Southport, England

Less than two hours after mourners gathered in Southport, England, on Tuesday evening to honor three children killed in a brutal stabbing attack, hundreds of rioters flooded the streets of the already traumatized town.

More than 50 police officers were injured in the ensuing violence, as demonstrators threw bricks at a mosque, attacked the police, set cars on fire and damaged a convenience store.

Although some details of the unrest remain opaque, one thing is clear, according to the police, lawmakers and experts in online extremism: Disinformation and far-right agitators fueled the violence.

Supporters of the English Defence League, an extremist anti-Islam organization, were part of a large group that attacked a mosque in Southport around 7.45 p.m., according to a statement from the Merseyside Police Service , which covers the region.

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What Kamala Harris has said so far on key issues in her campaign

As she ramps up her nascent presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is revealing how she will address the key issues facing the nation.

In speeches and rallies, she has voiced support for continuing many of President Joe Biden’s measures, such as lowering drug costs , forgiving student loan debt and eliminating so-called junk fees. But Harris has made it clear that she has her own views on some key matters, particularly Israel’s treatment of Gazans in its war with Hamas.

In a departure from her presidential run in 2020, the Harris campaign has confirmed that she’s moved away from many of her more progressive stances, such as her interest in a single-payer health insurance system and a ban on fracking.

Harris is also expected to put her own stamp and style on matters ranging from abortion to the economy to immigration, as she aims to walk a fine line of taking credit for the administration’s accomplishments while not being jointly blamed by voters for its shortcomings.

Her early presidential campaign speeches have offered insights into her priorities, though she’s mainly voiced general talking points and has yet to release more nuanced plans. Like Biden, she intends to contrast her vision for America with that of former President Donald Trump. ( See Trump’s campaign promises here .)

“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” she told members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta at an event in Indianapolis in late July. “And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

Here’s what we know about Harris’ views:

Harris took on the lead role of championing abortion rights for the administration after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. This past January, she started a “ reproductive freedoms tour ” to multiple states, including a stop in Minnesota thought to be the first by a sitting US president or vice president at an abortion clinic .

On abortion access, Harris embraced more progressive policies than Biden in the 2020 campaign, as a candidate criticizing his previous support for the Hyde Amendment , a measure that blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions.

Policy experts suggested that although Harris’ current policies on abortion and reproductive rights may not differ significantly from Biden’s, as a result of her national tour and her own focus on maternal health , she may be a stronger messenger.

High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give Biden poor marks for his handling of the economy, and Harris may also face their wrath.

In her early campaign speeches, Harris has echoed many of the same themes as Biden, saying she wants to give Americans more opportunities to get ahead. She’s particularly concerned about making care – health care, child care, elder care and family leave – more affordable and available.

Harris promised at a late July rally to continue the Biden administration’s drive to eliminate so-called “junk fees” and to fully disclose all charges, such as for events, lodging and car rentals. In early August, the administration proposed a rule that would ban airlines from charging parents extra fees to have their kids sit next to them.

On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits.”

Since becoming vice president, Harris has taken more moderate positions, but a look at her 2020 campaign promises reveals a more progressive bent than Biden.

As a senator and 2020 presidential candidate, Harris proposed providing middle-class and working families with a refundable tax credit of up to $6,000 a year (per couple) to help keep up with living expenses. Titled the LIFT the Middle Class Act, or Livable Incomes for Families Today, the measure would have cost at the time an estimated $3 trillion over 10 years.

Unlike a typical tax credit, the bill would allow taxpayers to receive the benefit – up to $500 – on a monthly basis so families don’t have to turn to payday loans with very high interest rates.

As a presidential candidate, Harris also advocated for raising the corporate income tax rate to 35%, where it was before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump and congressional Republicans pushed through Congress reduced the rate to 21%. That’s higher than the 28% Biden has proposed.

Affordable housing was also on Harris’ radar. As a senator, she introduced the Rent Relief Act, which would establish a refundable tax credit for renters who annually spend more than 30% of their gross income on rent and utilities. The amount of the credit would range from 25% to 100% of the excess rent, depending on the renter’s income.

Harris called housing a human right and said in a 2019 news release on the bill that every American deserves to have basic security and dignity in their own home.

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Hefty debt loads, which weigh on people’s finances and hurt their ability to buy homes, get car loans or start small businesses, are also an area of interest to Harris.

As vice president, she has promoted the Biden administration’s initiatives on student debt, which have so far forgiven more than $168 billion for nearly 4.8 million borrowers . In mid-July, Harris said in a post on X that “nearly 950,000 public servants have benefitted” from student debt forgiveness, compared with only 7,000 when Biden was inaugurated.

A potential Harris administration could keep that momentum going – though some of Biden’s efforts have gotten tangled up in litigation, such as a program aimed at cutting monthly student loan payments for roughly 3 million borrowers enrolled in a repayment plan the administration implemented last year.

The vice president has also been a leader in the White House efforts to ban medical debt from credit reports, noting that those with medical debt are no less likely to repay a loan than those who don’t have unpaid medical bills.

In a late July statement praising North Carolina’s move to relieve the medical debt of about 2 million residents, Harris said that she is “committed to continuing to relieve the burden of medical debt and creating a future where every person has the opportunity to build wealth and thrive.”

Health care

Harris, who has had shifting stances on health care in the past, confirmed in late July through her campaign that she no longer supports a single-payer health care system .

During her 2020 campaign, Harris advocated for shifting the US to a government-backed health insurance system but stopped short of wanting to completely eliminate private insurance.

The measure called for transitioning to a Medicare-for-All-type system over 10 years but continuing to allow private insurance companies to offer Medicare plans.

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When it comes to reducing drug costs, Harris previously proposed allowing the federal government to set “a fair price” for any drug sold at a cheaper price in any economically comparable country, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan or Australia. If manufacturers were found to be price gouging, the government could import their drugs from abroad or, in egregious cases, use its existing but never-used “march-in” authority to license a drug company’s patent to a rival that would produce the medication at a lower cost.

Harris has been a champion on climate and environmental justice for decades. As California’s attorney general, Harris sued big oil companies like BP and ConocoPhillips, and investigated Exxon Mobil for its role in climate change disinformation. While in the Senate, she sponsored the Green New Deal resolution.

During her 2020 campaign, she enthusiastically supported a ban on fracking — but a Harris campaign official said in late July that she no longer supports such a ban.

Fracking is the process of using liquid to free natural gas from rock formations – and the primary mode for extracting gas for energy in battleground Pennsylvania. During a September 2019 climate crisis town hall hosted by CNN, she said she would start “with what we can do on Day 1 around public lands.” She walked that back later when she became Biden’s running mate.

Biden has been the most pro-climate president in history, and climate advocates find Harris to be an exciting candidate in her own right. Democrats and climate activists are planning to campaign on the stark contrasts between Harris and Trump , who vowed to push America decisively back to fossil fuels, promising to unwind Biden’s climate and clean energy legacy and pull America out of its global climate commitments.

If elected, one of the biggest climate goals Harris would have to craft early in her administration is how much the US would reduce its climate pollution by 2035 – a requirement of the Paris climate agreement .

Immigration

Harris has quickly started trying to counter Trump’s attacks on her immigration record.

Her campaign released a video in late July citing Harris’ support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and Trump’s successful push to scuttle a bipartisan immigration deal that included some of the toughest border security measures in recent memory.

The vice president has changed her position on border control since her 2020 campaign, when she suggested that Democrats needed to “critically examine” the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, after being asked whether she sided with those in the party arguing to abolish the department.

In June of this year, the White House announced a crackdown on asylum claims meant to continue reducing crossings at the US-Mexico border – a policy that Harris’ campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, indicated in late July to CBS News would continue under a Harris administration.

Trump’s attacks stem from Biden having tasked Harris with overseeing diplomatic efforts in Central America in March 2021. While Harris focused on long-term fixes, the Department of Homeland Security remained responsible for overseeing border security.

She has only occasionally talked about her efforts as the situation along the US-Mexico border became a political vulnerability for Biden. But she put her own stamp on the administration’s efforts, engaging the private sector.

Harris pulled together the Partnership for Central America, which has acted as a liaison between companies and the US government. Her team and the partnership are closely coordinating on initiatives that have led to job creation in the region. Harris has also engaged directly with foreign leaders in the region.

Experts credit Harris’ ability to secure private-sector investments as her most visible action in the region to date but have cautioned about the long-term durability of those investments.

Israel-Hamas

The Israel-Hamas war is the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country and has spurred a multitude of protests around the US since it began in October.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late July, Harris gave a forceful and notable speech about the situation in Gaza.

We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

Harris echoed Biden’s repeated comments about the “ironclad support” and “unwavering commitment” to Israel. The country has a right to defend itself, she said, while noting, “how it does so, matters.”

However, the empathy she expressed regarding the Palestinian plight and suffering was far more forceful than what Biden has said on the matter in recent months. Harris mentioned twice the “serious concern” she expressed to Netanyahu about the civilian deaths in Gaza, the humanitarian situation and destruction she called “catastrophic” and “devastating.”

She went on to describe “the images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”

Harris emphasized the need to get the Israeli hostages back from Hamas captivity, naming the eight Israeli-American hostages – three of whom have been killed.

But when describing the ceasefire deal in the works, she didn’t highlight the hostage for prisoner exchange or aid to be let into Gaza. Instead, she singled out the fact that the deal stipulates the withdrawal by the Israeli military from populated areas in the first phase before withdrawing “entirely” from Gaza before “a permanent end to the hostilities.”

Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in late July, instead choosing to stick with a prescheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana.

Harris is committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, having met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least six times and announcing last month $1.5 billion for energy assistance, humanitarian needs and other aid for the war-torn country.

At the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Harris said: “I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine. In partnership with supportive, bipartisan majorities in both houses of the United States Congress, we will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine so badly needs. And let me be clear: The failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”

More broadly, NATO is central to our approach to global security. For President Biden and me, our sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad. And I do believe, as I have said before, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known.”

Police funding

The Harris campaign has also walked back the “defund the police” sentiment that Harris voiced in 2020. What she meant is she supports being “tough and smart on crime,” Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair for the Harris campaign and former mayor of New Orleans, told CNN’s Pamela Brown in late July.

In the midst of nationwide 2020 protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, Harris voiced support for the “defund the police” movement, which argues for redirecting funds from law enforcement to social services. Throughout that summer, Harris supported the movement and called for demilitarizing police departments.

Democrats largely backed away from calls to defund the police after Republicans attempted to tie the movement to increases in crime during the 2022 midterm elections.

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