Katherine will soon join an elite club. The price? Living on $87 a day

When Katherine Warwick wanders through her local supermarket, she calculates in her head precisely how much Weet-Bix and milk she needs to survive the week. At her home near Penrith, she thinks twice before switching on a lightbulb due to the price of electricity.

When she completes her PhD, the Western Sydney University student will join an elite club of less than 2 per cent of the population – but her stipend of about $30,000 a year means she earns $15,000 less than the minimum wage.

Katherine Warwick has been forced to live frugally to complete her PhD.Credit: James Brickwood

A new report from Universities Australia, the peak lobby group for the tertiary sector, calls for an increase in how much PhD students are paid, amid data showing fewer Australian students are choosing to pursue a doctoral research degree.

Warwick believes the five-year marathon of learning how to pay for a place to sleep, food and utilities with just $87 a day – and its resulting physical and mental health impacts – partially explains the decline.

She will soon hand in her dissertation, on the impact of chemical pollution on platypuses, but said the current crop of undergraduates were deterred from embarking on a PhD in such an expensive city.

“One of the biggest things they say to me towards the end of the great degree is: ‘I just want to start working’ … because they all need money,” Warwick said.

According to Universities Australia’s report, domestic student PhD enrolments fell from 43,174 to 39,801 between 2018 and 2023, – a decline of 8 per cent, despite the population growing by 7 per cent over the same period.

“A strong job market, inadequate financial support and insecure employment prospects in academia have deterred many domestic candidates from pursuing PhDs,” it said.

Australian domestic students more commonly research health topics, while international students typically study engineering and physical sciences.

But the report said skills acquired through PhD programs such as advanced research, problem-solving and analysis were highly valuable across various sectors, and strengthened Australia’s position as a global research leader.

Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy noted last year’s stipend of $32,192 was “barely above the poverty line” and called for the stipend to be increased to a minimum of $36,000 in 2026.

Luke Sheehy, CEO of Universities Australia, said the stipend of $32,192 last year was “barely above the poverty line”.Credit: Joe Armao

“A modest increase in the PhD stipend would make research degrees more accessible, levelling the playing field for all candidates and securing the skilled graduates to take our country forward,” he said.

Monash University higher education policy expert Professor Andrew Norton said it was normal to have a drop-off in PhDs during a strong labour market.

“Of course universities want more people to do more research, but from the students’ point of view, will a PhD advance their career? If they’re hoping to be an academic, they’re likely to be disappointed, as it is hard to get a job,” he said.

“You do PhDs because you have interest in a field. But the opportunity cost goes up in a strong labour market when you could get a good job.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.