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Graduate Students to Receive Paid Family Leave
By Gwendolyn Bradley
Two private institutions announced this spring that they will begin offering paid family leave to graduate students. At Dartmouth College, male or female students who are “primary-care providers” will be able to take up to twelve weeks off from their studies following the birth or adoption of a child while retaining their stipends, enrollment status, and health benefits. Students who take the leave will be granted a one-year extension of the deadline by which they are expected to complete their degrees.
At Stanford University, female graduate students who give birth will be eligible for up to six weeks of paid time off from their research and teaching commitments. They will retain their enrollment status and continue to receive salaries or stipends and any tuition support they had been receiving. They will also be allowed to postpone assignments, exams, and other graduate work.
“We are delighted that Dartmouth and Stanford will extend paid family leave to graduate students, thereby enabling the healthy integration of graduate studies and teaching responsibilities with family life,” says Anita Levy, who staffs the Association’s Committee on Women in the Academic Profession.
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