How Financial Policies Impact Graduate Student Attrition
Release Date: 11/26/2025
Catching Up with Prior Guests: 2025 Edition
Personal Finance for PhDs
Emily published the first episode of this podcast in July 2018. This is the 246rd episode, and over the last six and a half years, the podcast has featured over 300 unique voices in addition to her own. For our last episode in 2025, we are catching up with the guests from Seasons 15 through 17, and a few from earlier seasons as well. The guests were invited to submit short audio clips to update us on how their lives and careers have evolved since the time of their interview, as well as to provide their best financial advice if that has changed since that initial interview.
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How Financial Policies Impact Graduate Student Attrition
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Connor Ferguson, a postdoc at the University at Buffalo studying how professional development and student success initiatives influence the graduate training environment. While pursuing her PhD in higher education at West Virginia University, Connor worked full-time as a student affairs professional supporting health sciences graduate students, which has given her multiple perspectives on how to support graduate students. Connor and Emily discuss the best practices that universities and programs can implement to reduce graduate student attrition and...
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Financially Thriving as an International Scientist in the US
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Sonali Majumdar, the assistant dean for professional development in the graduate school at Princeton University. Sonali is the author of the recently published book Thriving as an International Scientist: Professional Development for Global STEM Citizens. Sonali and Emily discuss the various financial challenges that international graduate students, postdocs, and researchers face when coming to the US, including the start-up expenses and relative financial dependence on their advisor's grants. They also touch on the learning curve that international...
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This PhD Minimized Student Loan Debt While on an Unstable Career Path
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Hannah Percival, an instructor at Houston City College who holds a PhD in music theory. Hannah shares how she financially made it through graduate school on a small stipend, including how she minimized student loan debt, side hustled, and kept her expenses low. She also tells the stories of landing her first and—more importantly—second post-PhD jobs and gives great advice for job seekers.
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Money Is a Good Enough Reason to Leave Academia
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Gabrielle Filip-Crawford, the founder of the peer support network Recovering Academics. Gabrielle left her tenure-track position after discovering she was vastly underpaid with almost no room for salary growth even after promotion. Gabrielle shares the common financial questions and mindsets that she sees within the Recovering Academics community, such as not understanding what different careers pay and feeling guilty for needing to earn more money. Gabrielle and Emily discuss how graduate students and postdocs can improve their money mindsets prior to...
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The Importance of Financial Student Services to Graduate Students on Stipends
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Zach Taylor, a repeat podcast guest with extensive expertise in financial wellness in higher education. Zach explains why financial peer mentoring programs have become so popular at colleges and universities and why peers are not always the appropriate people to provide this service. Zach and Emily discuss why colleges and universities provide financial wellness support and how it's beneficial to both students and institutions. Finally, Zach shares how grad/prof students, and particularly those who are non-traditional and/or experiencing financial...
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Increasing Income and Giving Back as an International Grad Student
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Snehanjana Chatterjee, a 3rd-year international graduate student at Texas Tech. Snehanjana recounts her financial journey over the past few years, from how she funded her start-up expenses upon moving to the US to how she's gained scholarships and awards to increase her income. Snehanjana volunteers to help international students acclimate to the US, and she shares some of their concerns and questions. Finally, Snehanjana asks Emily about banking and investing as an international student not planning to stay in the US.
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How to Negotiate Your Salary Post-PhD
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Kate Sleeth, the founder of EduKatedSTEM, on salary negotiation for PhDs. They discuss why everyone should negotiate salary and why Kate regrets not negotiating in her first position in academia. Kate teaches how someone should calculate their minimum salary number before going into a negotiation, including the free tools to use. They wrap up with Kate's best single tip regarding the negotiation process and her best financial advice, both of which are straightforward to implement.
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The Simple Way to Invest as an International Grad Student or Postdoc
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily interviews Hui-Chin Chen, a Certified Financial Planner specializing in advising globally mobile professionals. Hui-Chin is a managing partner and financial advisor with Jade & Cowry, and she is a repeat podcast guest. Her first interview from 2019 is required listening for international graduate students and postdocs prior to starting this episode. Hui-Chin gives us a bird's-eye view of a simple investing strategy for nonresidents in the US if using a tax-advantaged retirement account proves too complex. Hui-Chin and Emily review the IRA eligibility criteria for...
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Campus Resources to Improve Your Finances
Personal Finance for PhDs
In this episode, Emily shares the microinterviews she recorded at three conferences this year. The conference attendees, all of whom either work at universities or have PhDs themselves, responded to this prompt: “What resource on your campus could graduate students and postdocs access to benefit their finances?” You’ll hear the responses in order from the attendees of the National Postdoctoral Association Annual Conference, the Graduate Career Consortium Annual Meeting, and the Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit. You should be able to detect the transitions among the conferences...
info_outlineIn this episode, Emily interviews Dr. Connor Ferguson, a postdoc at the University at Buffalo studying how professional development and student success initiatives influence the graduate training environment. While pursuing her PhD in higher education at West Virginia University, Connor worked full-time as a student affairs professional supporting health sciences graduate students, which has given her multiple perspectives on how to support graduate students. Connor and Emily discuss the best practices that universities and programs can implement to reduce graduate student attrition and strengthen the workforce development pipeline, including how to raise stipends and provide for basic needs.