Why are PhD Programs Fully Funded?

[pigou]

In my social science field, we'd not be able to attract any competitive students unless we paid them a decent stipend. Highly qualified students make the faculty more productive, which means more high-impact publications, and hence more prestige for the university. That prestige is then leveraged to attract professional degree students and executives who pay the insane tuition that keeps the lights on.

[mleok]

In STEM, the competition for the best graduate students is intense, since their research contributes directly to the research program of their advisors, and guaranteeing financial support is a critical part of attracting the best students to attend. In the humanities, where there isn't a culture of co-authoring with your advisor, funding is more sporadic, and tends to be in the form of GTAs instead of GRAs.