Number of PhDs Receiving Gov’t Assistance Tripled From 2007 to 2010

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Between 2007 and 2010, the percentage of people with a graduate degrees who were on food stamps or were receiving another kind of federal aid more than doubled, reaching 360,000, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education,

In 2007, 9,776 people with PhD’s were receiving some kind of aid. In 2010, that number had more than tripled to 33,655. For people with master’s degrees, the number spiked from 101,683 to 293,029.

The Chronicle posits that the data is skewed since many professors are working, but they’re working as adjunct professors and are being paid so low that they seek out government help to buttress their income. An adjunct professor’s salary is certainly not enough in many cases where professors have family and are burdened by college debt. It is still the case though that those with college degrees, advanced or otherwise, are more likely to be employed than their peers.