Below we offer a way for you to compare the real value of our PhD financial aid package to the financial aid offer of a PhD program at an alternative University. To make this comparison, follow these steps:

Filling out the information

• From our "acceptance with financial aid" letter, determine the annual amount of income that we have offered.
• At the CNN Money web site: For the location "City 1:", specify the state "Indiana" and the city "Lafayette". This is the location closest to Purdue University.
• For the location "City 2:", select the state and city location of the alternative university that has offered you financial aid.
• Put the amount of Purdue's financial offer (stipend) in the box at the bottom of the page.
• Click on the "Compare Salaries" button

The answer should be self-explanatory. For instance, let's say Purdue University has offered a graduate student assistantship with a $16,000 per year stipend and the alternative University is MIT in Cambridge Massachusetts. Then the web site's response is the following:

Salary in Lafayette IN: $16,000
Comparable salary in Boston MA: $23,694.27

Thus, the financial aid package offered by MIT would have to exceed $46,000 per year to provide a living standard similar to that provided by a $16,000 stipend at Purdue University. Note that this difference can change somewhat depending on your overall level of income and whether you own an automobile, among other factors.

CNN Money states the following:

"Using data provided by researchers at ACCRA, Inc., we compare key expenses in dozens of major cities. Costs include housing, utilities, transportation and health care."

The results