The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Does the stipend include locality increase? Ex. for GS9 the base is 43,000 but with locality an LA gs 9 receives 56,000.

Wondering if the stipends are similar to account for the increased cost of housing for a school in LA vs Idaho?

helplocality wrote:Does the stipend include locality increase? Ex. for GS9 the base is 43,000 but with locality an LA gs 9 receives 56,000.

Wondering if the stipends are similar to account for the increased cost of housing for a school in LA vs Idaho?

Nope. You get the specified rate for your degree. End of story.

guestttttt wrote:

helplocality wrote:Does the stipend include locality increase? Ex. for GS9 the base is 43,000 but with locality an LA gs 9 receives 56,000.

Wondering if the stipends are similar to account for the increased cost of housing for a school in LA vs Idaho?

Nope. You get the specified rate for your degree. End of story.

well. that makes apartment finding much harder.

The struggle of finding a decent apartment below 2k a month in SoCal :/

guestsssss wrote:The struggle of finding a decent apartment below 2k a month in SoCal :/

same!! I found one for 1k but my friend is convinced I'll get murdered. It's right by school though so idk.

I honestly think they should make adjustments for locality even if they're slight :/

guestsssss wrote:I honestly think they should make adjustments for locality even if they're slight :/

Even if it's just like bumping you up to the higher degrees stipend.... It's only between 2k and 3k a month so bumping an undergrad up to a masters for metro areas isn't a huge deal.

Anyone else thinking about doing online classes for a full semester and moving in January? would save $10k up and that's a decent savings net.