less than a $3,000 than that

[sitifan]

In some universities, the cost of undergoing the ThD program is less than a $3,000 than that of the cost of studying for a PhD.
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/career-education/differences-between-a-thd-and-a-phd/

Does the quoted sentence mean "In some universities, the cost of undergoing the ThD program is less than that of the cost of studying for a PhD by $3,000"?

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, it's cheaper to earn a Th.D. according to that.

 

[tedmc]

The construction of the sentence is awkward.

I would write:

The cost of undergoing the ThD program is $3,000 less than the cost of studying for a PhD.

 

[jutfrank]

The sentence is a disaster. I'm not even sure what the writer meant to say. Probably that a ThD costs $3000 dollars less than a PhD.

Anyway, you can safely ignore this sentence, if the reason you're asking is only to enquire about the phrasing.

 

[GoesStation]

I'm sure it was an editing error. The author somehow got muddled up while trying to write In some universities, the cost of undergoing the ThD program is $3,000 less than that of studying for a PhD.

I can't say my version is elegant, but it does at least make sense.

 

[SoothingDave]

Ignoring the stray "a" in the sentence, the meaning is not that it costs $3000 less for the ThD. The meaning is that the difference in cost is less than $3000.

It's talking about more than one university. So there is more than one cost difference. But some are under $3000.