10k

10K...

PhDs are great! if you have the time and motivation and passion for the field - go for it! its not for getting a job...its about stretching yourself, doing exploits, contributing to society. lets face it, going through a PhD program (intellectually) puts you ahead of everyone - its a feeling money cannot buy...the person who buys a Phd Knows he bought it...but the one who earned it...knows he earned it! Its plainly excellence.
I equate academic excellence to other forms of excellence that no one can take from you (including yourself), excellence in sports, excellence in oration and making a tonne of money legally and with integrity - its very satisfying (remember the only one person you need to convince that you have what it takes is - you)

hakuna kwa atlas

@ Jason, thanks for the link; straight forward. Deliberating on taking up PHD after what am doing at the moment.

You have a point there.

Someone pointed out that Jason Hill is the first one to know which fuel station has run out of fuel, which road is impassable due to an accident that has just happened, when city council goons are chasing hawkers or demolishing stalls and yet he claims to be in the "diaspora". I guess therefore, Kangemi also qualifies to be "diaspora"!

Jason Hill is not only in diaspora but also he is not a Kenyan, he is African America living in America, you got to respect Jason intelligence, I don't know how many other countries he knows and keep track of like Kenya, he has mention a number streets in Thika and names of place before.

What you are talking about is a rare case when you can get a fellowship, grant, or an assistantship- you are basically working as an employee of the university, and they are "paying" you in tuition- and they are extremely hard to get now-a-days, and if one does get into such a program, they will require you to be in it full time, and maybe even work part time as an assistant of sorts in the program. Even then, your costs will still be less at Kenyatta, because you aren't factoring in cost of living, etc. And don't forget what ends up hurting many East African students in the US- getting in is one thing, STAYING in is another- you have to work so very hard to STAY in the program. If you apply and get into a program that will cover your costs, by all means, GO, but if not, remember, when using scholarships, they likely won't cover ALL your costs. Also, some don't give money to international students, and depending on your visa, you may not be allowed to work off campus, and will have to rely totally on the stipend. So you have to be very careful and do your research before hand. There is no "free lunch".

A very, very top student with a 4.0 GPA in secondary and undergrad along with several letters of recommendation from professors and professionals would likely be your competition for the money. If that's you, more power to you.

Rol10ut/drunKard don't promise something that is rare at 100% if that's not the case. Is that also how you would sell securities? With a 100% guarantee? You "promised" another student on this very forum that you knew a 100% cost-covered undergrad program, he or she looked into it, and said "doesn't apply to me/I'm not in the target area". So much for guarantees.

Here's a good link:
http://www.brighthub.com...ate/articles/80224.aspx

Best,

Hill

Mlevi paints a very rosy picture regarding funding of PhD study in the US. He should tell it to the birds. Only a few students get full tuition and stipend scholarships. The rest if they lucky will get full or partial tuition scholarships and have to fend for themselves as far as living expenses, books, conference attendances etc are concerned..They thus have to take up research and teaching assistantships. And the situation is getting no better with the economic downturn that has heavily impacted universities.