How Much Does Grad School Cost, And How Can I Pay For It?
Since it is fairly likely that you will personally be footing most of the bill for your graduate education, you will want to check very carefully on the costs associated with the program. You should know that graduate school: "(a) costs more than undergraduate education (as a general rule); (b) often imposes a heavy debt burden (possibly adding to the debt you are already carrying); (c) usually has less financial aid available than is available at undergraduate institutions; and (d) usually makes working your way through (at a full-time job) unadvisable
(Greene & Minton, 1989, p. 150). However, you shouldn't automatically assume that you won't be able to afford graduate school -- there are a number of sources of aid that are available to help with costs, several of which are described below. What you do need to do is engage in a realistic evaluation of costs and of available resources.
Basic Costs
In order to determine whether you can meet the costs of a graduate education, you need to find out a number of things, including: (1) What the current tuition is, and how frequently and at what rate it has risen in the past five years or so. (2) Whether the school provides any housing for graduate students, and if so, both current costs and cost history (i.e., increases over the past few years). Since only a few schools do provide graduate housing, it is more likely that you will be living off-campus, so you will need to check on the cost of living in the area. (3) Costs for local transportation, especially if you won't be living on campus. Don't forget additional transportation costs associated with going to required field placements, if that is part of the program requirement. (4) Costs for books, manuals, lab/technical equipment, art supplies, and other instructional aids may be considerably higher in graduate school than they were at C.C. How much of this are you required to pay for, and how much (if any) is provided by the department? (5) Are there residency requirements tied to tuition and costs? After investigating each program in which you are potentially interested, you should be able to generate an approximate total yearly cost for each program.
Sources Of Support
There are three basic kinds of financial support available to support graduate education. They are: (a) education-related salaries, typically in the form of teaching or research assistantships, but sometimes including administrative assistantships and dormitory or counselling assistantships; (b) outright grants and fellowships; and (c) government or institutional loans or loans from private sources. Not all of these kinds of support are equally available in all schools, nor to all students, so you must again do some homework on what is available from the programs that interest you.
Assistantships
When support is available, it is most typically in the form of an "RA" or a "TA" awarded directly from the department in which you are doing your graduate work. An "RA" is a "Research Assistant," while a "TA" is a "Teaching Assistant." As an RA, you would typically assist with the research of a faculty member -- and sometimes, you will be able to piggyback onto that research project in ways that will benefit you, in terms of developing your own line of research and/or related publications. If you are a TA, you will usually assist with one or more sections of an undergraduate course; this assistance may include facilitating discussion groups, writing exam questions, and/or grading undergraduates' papers or exams. Both RA and TA positions typically require a commitment of about 10 to 20 hours per week.
Assistantships (like Hall Director positions) are sometimes available through the school's Residential Life Division. In addition, there are sometimes administrative assistantships available, particularly at larger institutions. The graduate school office (rather than the department) can give you information on who to contact about these, if they are available.
Fellowships & Grants
Some departments and some institutions also offer fellowships, scholarships, or training grants. These are usually straight monetary awards that do not require work-hour commitments, and they are typically awarded on the basis of academic merit. However, no matter how good your undergraduate record is, you can't count on such fellowships, as they are becoming ever scarcer in the graduate world today. It is worth your while to carefully investigate resources like The Graduate Scholarship Book, Grants for Graduate Students, The Grants Register, and others that are available in Tutt Library. These books list both large and small grants and fellowships that are available across the U.S. It is worthwhile to apply for even fairly small fellowships, since you can sometimes put together a substantial "package" for yourself from several sources.
Loans
Another general source of financial support includes government (state and/or federal) loan programs. There are some government-sponsored fellowships (scholarships that do not require repayment) as well as government loans. Two of the better-known current loan programs are the Carl Perkins National Direct Student Loan Program, and the Stafford Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Most loans will be administered through the institution's financial aid office rather than through the academic department, so you need to be sure to contact both places.
Jobs
A final source of income during graduate school is from jobs, which come in many forms -- some obtained through sources outside the school, and some connected with various academic programs. Some law schools, for example, now offer job/internship programs that are affiliated with the law school, so that you can complete both coursework and paid career-related work at the same time. Some medical schools also make provisions for employment affiliated with health centers or hospitals. Many institutions also have work-study programs that provide part-time employment during the academic year, and full- or part-time employment during summers.
A Final Point
Unless you are in the fortunate -- and unusual -- position of having
unlimited financial resources at your disposal, you will need to ask up
front about what kinds of options are available. Although you may be concerned
that questions about financial support will appear inappropriate or tacky,
or harm your chances of being admitted, those worries are unfounded. Departments
and institutions will be happy to tell you what, if any, monies are available
to help support graduate students. However, they won't know you need the
information unless you ask -- so be sure to do so! When you call or write
for information about the institution's graduate program in general, and
about the specific departmental program(s) in which you are interested,
ask what kinds of RA, TA, loan, fellowship, training grant, and other opportunities
are available, as well as what the qualifications are, and the (at least
approximate) amount of aid typically awarded.
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