Yes, you generally do get paid during a fellowship, but the money can arrive in one of two very different forms. Research and academic fellowships usually pay a fixed stipend somewhere between roughly $28,000 and $75,000 a year. Clinical and corporate fellowships tend to pay a salary, often $70,000 to more than $100,000. The label matters as much as the number: it decides how your taxes work, whether you get benefits, whether you build Social Security credits, and whether you can contribute to a workplace retirement plan.
Stipend or Salary: Why the Label Changes Everything
A stipend is a fixed payment meant to support you while you train or do research. It is not wages. Institutions treat stipend-funded fellows as non-employee trainees, pay them monthly, and do not tie the payment to hours worked.
A salary reflects an employer-employee relationship. You do professional work on a payroll schedule, usually biweekly, and receive a W-2 at year’s end. The institution withholds federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from every paycheck.
Before signing an offer, confirm which model applies to you. The downstream effects on taxes, benefits, and retirement savings are large.
How Much Fellows Actually Get Paid
Research and Academic Stipends
The NIH and NSF set the benchmarks most of academia follows. Under the NIH Kirschstein-NRSA program, predoctoral fellows receive $28,788 per year, and postdoctoral fellows receive between $62,232 and $75,564 depending on years of experience.1NIAID. Salary Cap, Stipends, and Training Funds The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program pays $37,000 a year for up to three years, plus a separate cost-of-education allowance paid to the institution for tuition.2NSF. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program GRFP
Private foundations, university endowments, and smaller federal agencies may pay above or below these numbers. As a rough guide, predoctoral stipends cluster in the high $20,000s to low $40,000s, and postdoctoral stipends usually fall between $55,000 and $75,000. Field, location, and funding source all move the final figure.
Clinical and Corporate Salaries
Clinical fellows, especially those in medical residencies and subspecialty fellowships, earn salaries that step up with each year of postgraduate training. First-year residents at major academic medical centers typically start between $70,000 and $85,000. By the seventh or eighth year of training, annual pay can exceed $100,000. Programs in higher-cost metropolitan areas tend to pay more.
Corporate fellowships in engineering, data science, and public policy can match or exceed clinical pay when the sponsoring company is competing for talent. These roles usually come with the same benefits as any other full-time hire, including retirement plan access and paid time off.
Taxes: What Comes Out Before You See the Money, and What Doesn’t
If You’re on a Salary
You are taxed like any other employee. Your institution withholds federal and state income tax, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%) from each paycheck. You get a W-2 and file the same way any wage earner does.
If You’re on a Stipend
Stipends are more complicated. The portion used for tuition and required fees at a degree-granting institution is excluded from gross income under federal tax law.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 117 – Qualified Scholarships Anything used for living expenses, such as rent, food, transportation, or health insurance, is taxable income.
The catch is that institutions generally do not withhold taxes from stipend payments.4NIH Office of Financial Management. Fellowship Pay FAQ You receive the full amount each month and are responsible for setting money aside. Your institution may not send you a tax form at all, so you may need to report the taxable portion of your stipend without a 1099 or W-2 to prompt you.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC
If you expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax after credits and any withholding, the IRS generally requires quarterly estimated tax payments.6Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax Falling behind can trigger an underpayment penalty. Form 1040-ES includes a worksheet for calculating each quarter’s payment.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 421, Scholarships, Fellowship Grants, and Other Grants If you are an international fellow, check whether a tax treaty between the United States and your home country lowers what you owe.
Benefits and Expense Coverage
Many programs add support on top of the base pay. What’s included varies widely, so ask for a full benefits summary before you accept. Common items:
- Health insurance. Many programs pay premiums directly, though coverage is not guaranteed for non-employee fellows. If your program does not offer it, you can buy a plan through the federal marketplace, but premiums may be significant.
- Housing allowances. Some programs in expensive cities provide a separate housing stipend or subsidized housing.
- Relocation assistance. Reimbursements range from a few thousand dollars at smaller institutions to $10,000 or more at larger programs.
- Professional development funds. Allowances for conferences, supplies, and memberships typically run from a few hundred to several thousand dollars a year.
- Childcare support. NIH-funded NRSA fellows can receive up to $3,000 per budget period toward licensed childcare.1NIAID. Salary Cap, Stipends, and Training Funds
Federally funded fellows are bound by the granting agency’s rules. Privately funded fellows follow the sponsoring institution’s rules.
Protections You May Not Have on a Stipend
Because stipend-funded fellows are classified as trainees rather than employees, some standard workplace protections may not reach you.
Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year, but only to employees who have worked at least 12 months and 1,250 hours for the employer.8GovInfo. 29 USC 2611 – Definitions If your fellowship classifies you as a non-employee, you likely do not meet FMLA’s definition of an eligible employee. Some institutions offer their own leave policies for fellows, but those are voluntary rather than legally required. Ask before you start, especially if you are planning to have a child or expect a medical need during training.
Social Security Credits
Stipend payments are not subject to Social Security or Medicare taxes.4NIH Office of Financial Management. Fellowship Pay FAQ You keep more of the money each month, but you are not earning Social Security credits during your fellowship either. Retirement benefits generally require 40 credits, or roughly 10 years of covered work. A multi-year fellowship leaves a gap in your earnings record that can affect future benefit calculations. If you have not yet reached 40 credits, track how many years of covered work you still need.
Employer Retirement Plans
Non-employee fellows are generally excluded from the institution’s 401(k) or 403(b). Those plans require an employer-employee relationship, and if your stipend is not subject to FICA, most plan documents will treat you as ineligible. Salaried fellows can usually join whatever plan the institution offers its employees.
Saving for Retirement on a Stipend
You can still fund an Individual Retirement Account. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2019, federal law specifically allows taxable fellowship and stipend income paid to support graduate or postdoctoral study to count as compensation for IRA contribution purposes.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 219 – Retirement Savings Before that change, many stipend recipients had no qualifying compensation and could not contribute at all.
You can contribute to a traditional or Roth IRA up to the annual limit, or your total taxable fellowship income, whichever is less.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements Given that you are not earning Social Security credits or building a workplace retirement balance during training, an IRA is one of the most useful tools you have.
Can You Take Outside Work?
If your fellowship comes from a federal grant, expect rules on outside employment. NIH-funded Kirschstein-NRSA fellows can spend an average of up to 10 hours a week on part-time research, teaching, or clinical work outside the fellowship. Outside work cannot interfere with or extend the training program, and it cannot be paid from a grant that supports the same research as the fellowship. The sponsor must approve it.11National Institutes of Health. Supplementation of Stipends, Compensation, and Other Income
Even outside the federal system, most programs assume a full-time commitment and set their own limits. Check your offer letter or training agreement before you take on additional work.