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[adiampa]

I am currently enrolled in a PhD programme at a prestigious US University.

I am two years in and I've realised that this is not the kind of programme I wanted to be in, so I've decided to transfer to a UK school.  Now, my Department gave me scholarship for the first 8 courses I've taken (about US$ 27,000). They fund only the first year and nothing more.

If I leave the programme at this point, would I be obliged to pay that money back to my Department?  I cannot find any information on any legal obligations I may have. When I called the Financial Aid office to inquire, a person there said she did not know that any specific rule on that existed.

I would appreciate any advice on this. Thank you.

[tuxedo_cat]

This happens all the time:  a very high percentage of grad students in top programs get some combination of tuition/fees remission (is that what you got?  or did you get a stipend, i.e.,  actual income?) and stipend or teaching/research assistantship.

And lots of grad students drop out.  That's a standard institutional gamble.  You should be fine.

[adiampa]

Yes, I got tuition remission.  Thank you for the quick response!

[hesitant]

You will not have to repay any of the tuition remission money. I have never been on the administrative side of things, but when I was in graduate school,  some of my cohort and a good number of friends left midway through their program and did not have to repay any of the scholarship/tuition remission money they had received. Good luck!

[totoro]

It's like if you quit a job the employer won't ask for your wages back. Unless you are some sort of indentured servant in the wilds of the Amazon or something.

[brixton]

(Isn't that the definition of grad student?)

You won't have to pay.