Don't make the mistake of thinking that you won't need
financial aid or that you won't be eligible for it. Grad school
is usually a major investment and almost all students need some
form of financial assistance at some point in their academic
career.
To avoid bankrupting yourself in the first year, you should
work out a sound financial plan from the very beginning.
Financial aid programs, both need- and merit-based, fall into two
major categories:
 |
|
Gift Aid: does not have to be repaid |
|
|
Self-Help Aid: must be repaid or
earned
|
Are You Eligible?
Some programs award aid based solely on a student's need,
while others are based solely on merit. However, there are also
some programs based on a combination of both. Under many
scholarship programs, for example, selection of the recipient is
based on merit, but the award amount will depend on need.
Merit-Based Aid
Merit-based financial aid is awarded on the basis of personal
achievements or individual characteristics. It usually comes in
the form of scholarships or grants. Don't despair. Not everyone
who is awarded merit-based aid is a genius. For example, some
schools, particularly schools that are trying to maintain or
increase their enrollment, may award scholarships to students
with grades or test scores that are not stratospheric.
Need-Based Aid
Eligibility for need-based financial aid programs is determined
by one of two need-analysis formulas that seek to measure a
family's financial strength and ability to pay for school
expenses:
1. Federal Methodology: A need-analysis procedure developed by
Congress used to calculate family contribution (FC).
2. Institutional Methodology: An alternate method of calculating
FC used by individual colleges to determine eligibility for
institutional and non-federal aid.
Federal Methodology, a formula that is specified by law, takes
into account many variables, including expenses over which a
family has no discretion, such as taxes, employment expenses, and
basic needs. There's also an allowance for your parents' saving
for retirement that increases as they get older in recognition
that more of their assets should be available to them as they
near retirement age.
Once your family's assets and income are totaled, these
allowances are subtracted off of the top, leaving an amount over
which your family theoretically has discretion. Your family can
use these resources to buy a car, home furnishings, a boat,
whatever. Or, they could be saved for a rainy day.
Congress believes that the primary responsibility for paying
for education is with the parents and students themselves, to the
extent that they are able. That means that at least a portion of
their savings and income should go toward paying educational
expenses.
Gift Aid Options
Institutional
Gift aid received from colleges and universities is referred to
as institutional aid, since the money comes directly from the
school's resources. This type of financial assistance, naturally,
is the most sought-after type of funding and the most difficult
to receive. Scholarships and graduate fellowships may be awarded
on the basis of need, merit, or both.
Most fellowships provide for tuition and stipend. Many cover a
student's full academic career, but some must be renewed each
year. Most fellowship programs are highly competitive and are
designed to attract students with excellent academic records.
They are often limited to doctoral and post-doctoral students,
though there are some that specifically target Master's-level
students in particular fields.
"Portable fellowships" are offered by independent donors or
organizations and can be used at any university. Several
different guides to portable fellowships can be found in your
financial aid office or public library.
Institutional fellowships are awarded through specific
university programs. The financial aid offices of the schools to
which you are applying can give you information on any available
institutional fellowships.
Outside Scholarships and
Grants
Many private grant and scholarship programs exist through
community groups, businesses, and non-profit agencies. Spend time
at the library or on the Internet and investigate free resources.
Kaplan offers you a reliable and affordable
Scholarship Search to provide you with a reputable
scholarship search engine.
Self-Help Options
Assistantships:
Many graduate students, especially after their first year, become
teaching or research assistants. Through this arrangement,
teaching assistants help professors by leading seminar sections,
reading papers, and meeting with undergraduates.
Research assistants, common in the sciences, oversee
laboratories and assist professors on projects. Both arrangements
allow students to earn money while gaining experience in their
field. Some universities also reduce tuition for students working
as assistants.
Assistantships provide stipends and/or tuition remission in
exchange. In some programs, assistantships are awarded to every
student; in others they are awarded competitively, based on
academic performance.
Employment:
Although employment is not a financial aid program in the
traditional sense, many graduate students help finance their
education with income from full- or part-time jobs. Some students
choose part-time programs, extending the amount of time it takes
to receive a degree, but allowing them to finance all or part of
their education through employment.
Some employers will provide tuition reimbursement for their
employees. In most cases, you'll have to commit to working for
the company for a number of years after you've earned your
business degree.
Student Loans:
Most grad students try to minimize the loan component of their
financing, but sometimes that just simply isn't possible.