Paying for Grad School

I was wondering if any of you could give me some insight regarding ways to pay for grad school. I know that with fellowships and assistantships one could have some, if not all, of their tuition waved. I will be a senior in September and essentially got a free ride for my undergrad ( economics major) and was hoping I could do the same for my master's degree. I was wondering if any of you knew about some universities that offer fellowships that are not too hard to get. If you are currently in grad school, how are you paying for it?

Thanks in advance

BUMP!!

I also need to apply to grad schol this year or next year... i would also like to know IF WE CAN ACTUALLY get into certain programs... and paying for tuition...

https://graduateschoolfordreamers.wordpress.com/

I've been bugging grad schools for information about our situation. Fortunately for you I was an Econ undergrad as well. What state are you in?

If you go for the PhD and are 'funded' you don't pay tuition and receive a living stipend (15-20k ish). Usually you don't work during your first and last year of doctoral studies. The other years your funding is contigent on being a TA/RA.

Master degrees aren't usually funded, and usually serve as cash cows in Economic departments. If you are in California you are eligible for the university state grant that covers tuition. The more I know about your basic situation the more I can help.

Look into USC, Emory, Northwestern, and Brown. Some of the other big-time private schools are sympathetic too.

I know USC for sure has some arrangement they can make because my fiancee got in with full tuition remission and living expenses paid for for the Ph. D. in political science. I also thought I remembered something in the news recently about Emory. The other schools I think I recall being possibilities when she applied.

If you are applying only for a master's program, though, I think it will be hard to get money in that situation--even with papers.

OH, i am acutally in CA...

I want to complete MOT... and i did heard you can get into public school without a problem... but I am looking at USC, LLU, and CSUDH...

never talked to them about it but if you guys are trying to get into USC, please msg me i have question!

You can get tuition waived at Dominguez Hills via the California Dream Act/University State grant.

USC is certainly friendly to our situation. You need to contact them when you apply so they can disable certain parts of the application, but that's it. Master/professional degrees tend not to be funded even for US citizens though so if you're really strapped for cash go to CSUDH.

https://graduateschoolfordreamers.wo...rn-california/

The way people get their masters for cheap at my school is through this program called submatriculation. Basically, it enables you to register for a grad degree and take grad courses while still in undergrad. It usually takes 5 years so you postpone your undergraduate requirements. This way you get undergrad financial aid for a 5th year while finishing up the masters and undergrad.

For PhD you need to find other means of funding. This is best accomplished by getting to know your professors with money or really standing out in your field (a little bit of luck too!)

Thank you for the link and response. I live in Seattle but attend a college in SoCal. This would make me ineligible for the grant, right? I want to go for a masters in business, so I guess there's not a lot of hope in terms of funding.

Yes, Emory has established a separate fund for students. I cannot find any direct quotes saying that the new policy does not apply to those seeking graduate degrees.

Source 1 & Source 2

OP, also consider a grad program at Tufts. One of the articles I cited above also discusses the new policy there.

Yes unfortunately you need to qualify as an AB540 student in order to get access to the grant. Since you presumably graduated from a Seattle/WA high school you don't. WSU is friendly towards us, but I don't think Washington state has much in terms of financial aid available.

There is funding available for those in our situation, but what really makes it unlikely you'll find any funding is that Master degrees, especially professional degrees like MBAs, very rarely get any funding. To the contrary they're cash cows for business schools and in many cases tuition is higher than normal MA degrees. This is partly because a good chunk of MBA students are getting their degrees paid by their employers.

If you hope to go into the private sector I encourage you to just get a job and only consider going back for your MBA once you have landed a job where your employer is willing to pay for your degreee.

IMO, I'm not a big fan of MBA programs in general. I've sat in a few classes and its basically a business degree for people who opted for something else in undergrad. If you have a business or econ degree you'll be bored and your time is better spent elsewhere unless a promotion or certain job absolutely requires an MBA.