What would you think of a department offering a PhD student an offer without a funding package to go with? A 13 year old, Elliott Tanner was recently accepted to the University of Minnesota PhD in Physics but without funding which I understand is very uncommon.
Without funding? Uncommon. Admitting someone 13 to a PhD program? Supranormal!! One is cause for comment; the other cause for headlines. Elliott is probably better at figuring out funding than the Uni. Perhaps he can help them understand their obligation here. They obviously don't. Try taking future Dr. Tanner seriously, people! In a very few years he may be your boss. What then?
Did they offer admission without funding due to the fact he is 13 and most likely will be living, and being supported by, his parents? Maybe they figured they could use that funding elsewhere? I have no idea, I am just spit balling possibilities.
Yes. But I doubt labor laws would present a problem. Labor laws are not designed solely to prevent children from working, period. They are also to protect children who work, e.g. child actors, models, etc. To protect them from unsuitable conditions, limit hours etc. and see they get proper schooling - and are paid adequately and that their earnings are not misspent by adults in the picture. And to say "Yes, we want him but no money like we pay the others, because he's 13" sounds like age discrimination to me. On the face of things (which is all I have to go by) it appears to me somebody might be taking advantage of this brilliant young man's age, if they figure they don't have to pay him simply because he's 13 and his parents provide for him. They could at least give him the price of school. Or do I understand things correctly? Is he getting nothing - zilch or at least a full-ride scholarship? If they do that plus pay for his research expenses, I'd be OK with that. Anybody know?
A grad school funding package is often partly a job offer for a job in which the fundee works for the institution on projects other than just their own coursework and research. Before hiring a 13-year-old to a complex job, expected to last years, at a workplace that might never have had a minor in such a position before, that institution should do careful due diligence that its offer and terms comply with all laws and good judgment, that the job tasks will be developmentally appropriate for the child, and that the situation will be appropriate for other stakeholders, for example for undergraduate students the child might teach as a teaching assistant. It might be appropriate to modify job expectations. All this could well require a special allocation of resources to plan and implement.
Yes. Then that's what has to be done. (Hopefully, before Elliott is 40.) Or make it a no-work (except the Doctorate itself) freebie. They just shouldn't offer ..... nothing. (Is that what's on the table - or is there a scholarship plus research expenses at least? That'd be OK, as I said before.)
I read it. So he's getting NOTHING from the University - except a big bill. Nada. Bupkes. SFA. Shame on them. They'll no doubt bask in prestige when he graduates, though. Props to Elliott. And his folks. None whatsoever to the Uni.
Indeed. I must say, most folks I know pursuing a PhD full-time and on-campus get full funding with a tuition waiver. I'd imagine others who are in the program received an offer package of some sort.
My take: The school is milking this situation as a free publicity bonanza simply because they can. We have so many laws -- yet here we need another one!
Remember friends that schools larger than about one room are complex organizations with different decision makers often working independently, sometimes at cross-purposes, sometimes unaware of each other. I expect the physics graduate program admissions committee can offer admission to a minor, and could have offered a normal funding package with an employment relationship attached to an adult. But offering employment at an adult professional level to a 13-year-old seems liable to require substantive due diligence work and approvals coordinated among university-wide offices for academic affairs (provost), human resources including occupational health and safety, legal, maybe outside counsel, maybe risk management (insurance). Don't forget that important parts of the work of a university physics department take place in labs, and graduate student employment often includes supervisory roles in these labs. If the situation was an adult applicant who needed disability-related job accommodation, they'd have a legal and to my mind an ethical right to accommodation, and normal channels should be provided to achieve that accommodation. A 13-year-old applicant for a package that includes an adult professional level job doesn't have the same legal right to job accommodation as any adult. It's a different situation. Does the 13-year-old have an ethical right to job accommodation? Maybe.
Yes they are - they're making him PAY where others don't. They let Elliott do what he's aiming for. But HE pays full retail whack. ADULTS pay zip. And THEY get paid. The school is intentionally depriving Elliott of a huge benefit given to most others in the same position. They're not making him earn a doctorate - but they ARE imposing unfavourable terms to their own advantage - JUST FOR HIM. I say they're taking advantage of Elliott, wrongly capitalizing on his youth. If anybody's crowdfunding a lawsuit against the Uni on this - let me know.
I just saw Jonathan's post. My attention was riveted on Steve's. Sorry. As usual, Jonathan makes good points. If they absolutely, positively CAN'T give him work and pay him -- they should give him a free ride as a consolation prize. They'd MORE than make it back in good PR. After all, what headline looks better: "Uni Helps Prodigy" or "Uni Screws Prodigy?"
Shrugs… with the number of guides I see about finding funded PhD programs and the number of complaints I hear from graduate students… seems to be a lot of doctoral students… who are paying…. Not sure I see anything wrong here. Although it might be a caution flag that the child didn’t receive a more competitive offer. Just hope the kid is doing this out of his own passion and has a strong and supportive network of friends and family - for their overall well-being.
Age discrimination laws in the U.S. only protect people over 40. A research assistantship in physics could involve working in hazardous environments, which is off-limits to those under 16 not working in a family's agricultural business. There might even be legal concerns if he were to teach lab courses.
I'm hoping that might be because he didn't apply elsewhere. Isn't the Uni in Elliott's home town, or a close commute, so he could continue to live at home? I think that would be indispensable for someone of his age, regardless of intellect.
