This article will guide you through how to create a college doctoral student survey about funding and stipend adequacy. With Specific, you can build a survey in seconds—AI takes care of the hard parts, so you get to insights faster without the hassle.
Steps to create a survey for college doctoral students about funding and stipend adequacy
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific and you’re set. But here's how simple it really is with an AI survey generator:
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
Honestly, you don’t even need to read further—AI builds your survey with expert knowledge and even asks follow-up questions so you collect real insights, not just arbitrary responses.
Why these surveys matter (and the real cost of ignoring them)
Let’s be blunt: if you’re not regularly collecting feedback from college doctoral students about funding and stipends, you’re missing out on crucial insights that affect well-being, equity, and even your institution’s appeal. The importance of college doctoral student recognition surveys and the benefits of college doctoral student feedback can be summed up in two words—transparency and improvement.
Stipends and funding aren’t just a budget matter. They’re deeply linked to academic success, mental health, and retention.
In the UK, UKRI announced an 8% increase in the minimum PhD stipend, moving it to £20,780 as of October 2025. That’s the biggest real-term jump since 2003, showing how feedback and advocacy influence real change. [1]
Missed opportunities? When you skip asking, you lose the nuanced stories and root causes behind student attrition, dissatisfaction, or calls for reform.
Data-driven decisions keep your program competitive. As stipend discussions become more public, transparent, and contested worldwide (with upgrades from Ireland to the US and Canada), not listening is simply not an option anymore. If you’re not running these surveys, you’re choosing to stay in the dark.
What makes a good survey on funding and stipend adequacy?
Getting quality results depends on asking the right questions in the right way. In funding and stipend adequacy surveys, clarity and fairness are non-negotiable. Here’s how to approach it:
Use clear, unbiased questions. Ambiguous or leading questions muddy your data and impact trust.
Keep a conversational tone. Respondents open up more when questions feel like a chat, not an interrogation.
Diverse question types. You want depth (open-ended) and easy-to-analyze data (multiple-choice, NPS).
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Loaded or ambiguous wording | Neutral, open phrasing |
The best surveys balance quantity and quality of responses. The more students who reply, and the more authentic their answers, the clearer your insights about funding adequacy become.
Question types and examples for college doctoral student surveys on funding and stipend adequacy
Open-ended questions are ideal when you want to explore experiences, opinions, or motivations deeply. They’re perfect to use at the start or end of surveys, or when you want to capture stories behind the numbers.
“Describe your biggest challenge related to the current stipend system.”
“How do funding issues affect your academic work or day-to-day life?”
Single-select multiple-choice questions give you clear, structured data that’s quick to analyze. They work best for quantifiable topics or to segment your audience. Example:
How would you rate the adequacy of your current funding or stipend?
Very adequate
Somewhat adequate
Neither adequate nor inadequate
Somewhat inadequate
Very inadequate
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question is perfect for tracking the overall support or satisfaction for your program or funding arrangements. Want an NPS survey built for this audience and topic? Generate an NPS survey instantly. Example:
“On a scale from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely), how likely are you to recommend your doctoral program to a prospective student based on the current funding and stipend provided?”
Followup questions to uncover "the why" are essential when you need context, explanations, or to clarify vague replies. They’re especially useful after pivotal multiple-choice or NPS questions. Example:
“What specific changes would make the stipend more adequate for you?”
“Can you share an example of how your stipend (or lack thereof) impacted your research progress?”
Want even more inspiration? Check out our in-depth guide to the best questions for surveys about funding and stipend adequacy, with tips on crafting and customizing for your situation.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey uses friendly, chat-like interactions to engage respondents, making them feel heard rather than interrogated. Instead of a rigid set of boxes, questions flow naturally, probe as needed, and let insights emerge through back-and-forth.
When we compare manual survey creation with AI survey generators like Specific, the difference is night and day. Manual methods are time-consuming, error-prone, and require deep survey expertise. AI lets us compose, refine, and deploy high-quality, interactive surveys in seconds—and edit them just by talking to the AI with natural language.
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys |
|---|---|
Slow, repetitive | Quick and intuitive |
Why use AI for college doctoral student surveys? It unlocks the full power of conversational surveys — boosting engagement, response rates, and honesty. With an AI survey example, you see how dynamic, follow-up-driven, user-friendly surveys outshine outdated approaches. Specific delivers best-in-class conversational surveys, so both survey creators and respondents have a smooth, modern experience. Want to know more about how survey creation works? Check our step-by-step guide.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions—in real time, tailored to each respondent’s answer—are a superpower that traditional survey forms simply don’t have. Automated followups driven by AI mean you get “the why” behind every answer, without back-and-forth emails or guesswork. Thanks to this, the conversation is deeper and more natural, and the context of college doctoral student stipends can be fully explored.
College Doctoral Student: “My stipend covers most things.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share an example of what you’re still unable to afford, or how this impacts your daily life?”
How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2-3 well-placed followups get you from surface-level reply to actionable depth. Specific lets you set this up easily, and respondents always have the option to move on once the key info is captured—no fatigue, all insight.
This makes it a conversational survey: instead of a one-way form, it’s a back-and-forth exchange, which consistently boosts response quality and honesty.
Survey response analysis, AI-powered, text analysis: Don’t worry about having too much open-ended data—Specific’s AI lets you analyze and distill each and every reply with ease. Learn how to analyze responses here.
This “AI-powered followup” concept is new, and you need to experience it to believe how much context you gather. Give it a try—generate a survey and see the difference for yourself.
See this funding and stipend adequacy survey example now
Ready to get real feedback, honest answers, and game-changing insights from college doctoral students—without the hassle? Start now with expert-designed, conversational, AI-powered surveys and see the difference firsthand.