Loans/Grants for Graduate School

Factual Questions
1

I’ve always wanted to go to Graduate School to earn that degree which is the one thing that separates me from the big money (well… bigger money) in my profession. You gotta have that piece of paper!

My economic position is such that I’m basically living from paycheck to paycheck.

How in the heck can I afford to go to school full time for 2 years?

See, the problem is, any loan or grant I apply for is going to want to know how much I currently make, but the point is that I’ll have to either quit my current job or severly cut back on my hours in order to attend school. So, for example, on a loan application I’ll have to put down that I make $25k a year and the loan reviewer will go, “Aha, you can afford to go to college on your own dime.” Of course, I won’t be earning anything near $25k whilst attending and I won’t be able to pay rent, let alone tuition.

How did YOU manage to attend school and still survive? I don’t have parents I can mooch from. What kind of programs are out there for a person like me?

Thank you SO much!

2

Private school loans. Unlike the government’s Stafford loans, these are not subsidized and therefore don’t have the same approval guidelines. They are usually slightly more expensive (higher APR), but are the only option for those who have exhausted all other avenues or don’t qualify for Staffords.

3

Have you checked into going to school part-time? Way back when I was in an MBA program, the earliest start time for graduate-level courses was 4:00 pm and they even had a program where you could earn an MBA or MPA in weekend courses. (probably because of the school’s preference for students with jobs- not because they had money to pay tuition, but because they had experience in the “real world”)

4

Sometimes the loans (if government) can be based upon your expected income not your past income. There are some extra complicated forms to fill out though.

Don’t over look other possible sources of money while you are in school. Perhaps you can get a small scholarship. I did a graduate assistanceship while I was in graduate school. Basically they pay you to teach a class or run some errands or grade papers.

I suggest you pick a school and start talking to as many people there as possible.

5

My husband’s assistanceship actually paid his tuition, plus minimum wage in exchange for him being a math department flunky 20 hours a week. He also qualified for Stafford loans. Stafford loans have different qualifications than do grants- the cut off is way way higher. Check into it; you might make the cut.

There is also the Americorp program.

6

Almost all science students (myself included) pay their way through grad school with an assistantship. You’d do approximately 20 hours of week of either teaching-type duties or research, and in return, the department takes care of your tuition and pays you a stipend. I don’t know if this is the situation in your field, though.

7

What field are you in? And how good are you?

As Chronos said, most programs in the humanities and sciences offer teaching or research assistantships. The pay isn’t great, and there may not be positions for first-year students, but it’s better than nothing. Ask about this when you’re applying. With professional programs (law, business, etc.), this usually isn’t an option.

If you’re a REALLY strong candidate, look into applying for a merit-based fellowship (either from your university or an outside source, like the Javits Fellowship program). Very competitive, but you’re sorted if you can pull it off – usually you’ll get full tuition and a living stipend without any teaching responsibilities. (Had one for my first two years of grad school. Pure heaven. Now a peon like everyone else.)

8

Another way to pay for grad school is to–work for an university. This is how I did it. Employees get tuition remission. If you have the chance, take advantage. It doesn’t matter what your position is, you can probably get 2 classes a semster. If you don’t want a thesis degree, you’re gold. If you have to do research, it’s tougher. But I made a lot more in salary than any grad school stipend and got to take the classes; my thesisw jibed with my job anywhere and so I did my research as a matter of course of my job. It can be a sweet deal.

9

As mentioned by others, assistantships and tuition waivers are usually available. I’m not sure about your field, but when I was in grad school, every student that I knew of received these types of aid. Basically, the field was so competitive that if your scores, GRE, etc… didn’t qualify you for at least a tuition waiver, you weren’t getting into the program anyway.

In my case, teaching assistantships came through the graduate school and research assistantships came through your major professor. Those with less than well-funded professors ended up teaching longer than the others; but either way, they’ll put you to work to earn your stipend.

In addition, most grad schools or departments have some sort of competitive merit scholarship which comes on top of any other aid. In my case it was called the “Graduate Award for New Scholars.” That one came in handy for books and such. Then, you can always try for a loan if the ends still aren’t meeting.

Good luck to you!

10

The tuition waiver I was talking about was for the padded “out-of-state” costs. I don’t think a grad student should ever have to pay out-of-state tuition. If a school wants the best and brightest from all over, the only way to attract these students is to waive the out-of-state.

11

Pick a program which guarantees a high paying job at the outcome, and offers loans from the outset. Some MBAs offer this. If you can’t get in a program with an actual guarantee, go for one which has a very high placement, for banks will consider this when lending.

Pick a program which permits full time employment. Exective MBAs offer this. Alternatively, pick a part time program or evening program. In general, grad programs are much more aware of employment considerations than undergrad programs.

Pick up a few teaching or research jobs – the pay ain’t bad, and just as importantly these jobs fit well with your own studies, and can help land you a job after graduation through academic/industry contacts your supervisors may have. Besides, poverty is a lot easier to tolerate if you are earning your keep doing someting you enjoy than if you are flippin burgers. Along the same line, you can often use faculty contacts to pick up sabatical house sitting jobs (free rent).

Find a night job and get used to running on little sleep. (It helps if you get your reading list completed prior to enrollment so that you minimize study time while a student.)

Talk to every bank and credit union you can find to see what they can do for graduate students – quite often they are more accomodating than they are for undergrads.

Find an employer who will cover your tuition and living expenses. (Unfortunately, you usually have to be pretty high up the ladder before they will do this.)

Camp out in the financial counselling centres at a few universities for leads on bursaries and scholarships – you’d be amazed at what is out there. (I picked one up because I was a “Nice guy”.)

Get your degree online. Some offer entirely on-line grad degrees (e.g. the Athabasca MBA), and quite a few offer on-line grad degrees with only a short on-campus residency requirement. Check out the Open University in the UK (and now in the US to a limited extent).

On the flip side, start planning for poverty now to avoid paying when your cash flow is dry. Look into communal living, be it with a group of fellow grads or a frat. Look into low cost nutrition. Pick up now whatever property (clothes, car, computer etc.) you expect to use as a grad student.

If you are going to be living on the street, pick a university in a warm climate. (I messed up on this one and ended up spending a Canadian winter without heat, electricity or water in an empty shell of a building.)

Finally, keep your goal in the front of your mind. At worst, it’s only a few of years of exhaustion and poverty. That can be withstood. At best, you might find that once you take the plunge, you can swim after all, and might just like it.

12

I’m a 33 y/o electrical engineer (BSEE) with a full time job, family (wife + 2 children), home, etc. I am currently pursuing my masters (MSEE) by taking one course at a time in the evenings. Fortunately, my employer is paying for the schooling. In fact, I believe that is the case for most of my classmates.

Why must you attend full time? Frankly, I’m in no hurry to get my masters.