tenured graduate student

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

tenured graduate student
 n.

   One who has been in graduate school for 10 years (the usual maximum is
   5 or 6): a `ten-yeared' student (get it?). Actually, this term may be
   used of any grad student beginning in his seventh year. Students don't
   really get tenure, of course, the way professors do, but a tenth-year
   graduate student has probably been around the university longer than
   any untenured professor.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

tenured graduate student

   <job> One who has been in graduate school for 10 years (the
   usual maximum is 5 or 6): a "ten-yeared" student (get it?).
   Actually, this term may be used of any grad student beginning
   in his seventh year.  Students don't really get tenure, of
   course, the way professors do, but a tenth-year graduate
   student has probably been around the university longer than
   any untenured professor.

   [{Jargon File}]

   (1996-09-27)

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