Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

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  1. Charles Bakker's avatar

    I came across this article today. https://gizmodo.com/pentagon-investigators-say-overreliance-on-palantir-ai-tech-contributed-to-u-s-strike-that-killed-123-iranian-children-2000814477 Apparently, the (irresponsible) use of AI was partly to blame for the American…

  2. Luis Marxuach's avatar
  3. Scott's avatar
  4. Jasper Wong's avatar
  5. Eric Winsberg's avatar
  6. Mark's avatar
  7. eric winsberg's avatar

Going into debt for a PhD or an MA in philosophy

Perhaps it's worth reiterating something I've said in the past:  don't acquire debt to get a PhD or MA in philosophy, it's just too risky a proposition given the academic job market.   Good programs that really want you will offer funding, meaning, tuition waiver and living stipend.   This is worth emphasizing regarding MA programs in particular, since funding packages vary quite a bit.   Take a fully funded offer at any of the excellent terminal MA programs over an offer that requires you to pay tuition, unless you won't acquire debt to do so.  Tufts, in particular, while it has an excellent faculty, often requires admitted students to pay non-trivial amounts of tuition.  If you can go fully funded to Northern Illinois, Georgia State, or Wisconsin/Milwaukee, I'd recommend going there, unless there is a really compelling intellectual reason to prefer Tufts.

ADDENDUM:  It's true, as someone pointed out to me, that Wisconsin/Milwaukee has suffered some notable faculty losses (e.g., Magaret Atherton has retired, while Ted Hinchman and Andrea  Westlund moved to Florida State), but it's still a strong terminal MA program faculty.  Prospective students should ask about hiring plans.

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