paying for grad school

[merryns.mom]

how are you paying for grad school.

i want to go, but taking out thousands more in loans is not sitting well.

any help???

[Mosaic]

I got loans. Lots of them. I also managed to get some scholarship funds and work-study, but yeah... mostly loans.

Depending on your field, sometimes an employer will reimburse you for coursework, partially or in-full.

[Carita]

most of it through assistantships for free health insurance, free tuition & a stipend - most of these you have to apply for early. some universities are more generous than others & have subsidies for housing and child care as well.

[RollerCoasterMama]

I have one of those employers that reimburse tuition. Lots of people here take a little longer doing a couple of classes at a time. It's not a huge amount of money, but it can really help!

I'm using that program to pick up pre-reqs that I need before applying for a PhD program. At that point, I'm going to have to get into a program with a stipend for PhD candidates. I'll probably need to still take out a bit of loans, but not too much. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! By then DS will be in school and I'll try to find a low cost of living area...I'll make it work!

Anyway, I used to think employers paying for school was a big myth. I always heard it being talked about---then when I got here I thought it was a shame since I'd already "finished" my education. But now I'm in a spot where I can use the program! It's helping to make my dream a reality!!

[LynnS6]

MA/MS or PhD? What field?

I'd never pay for a PhD program, nor would I encourage anyone to enroll in a PhD they'd have to pay for themselves. For most programs, if a PhD program wants you, they should be able to offer you fellowships/assitantships to at least pay tuition and some living costs. If you are single, you can usually live on what they pay you if you're frugal. With a family, you'll need more. If a PhD program doesn't want you enough to offer you aid, that's saying that they don't think that highly of you. If they don't think highly of you now, what are your chances in a highly competitive job market when you're done?

Exceptions to this would be for fields such as education or engineering where it might be less the norm to pay for PhD students. But for humanities, social sciences and physical sciences, it's the norm to be offered support of some sort.

[Carita]

engineering is standard to be offered support - almost always Research assistantships. In any science, this shoul dbe the case.

Professional programs, like teaching, MBA, law - I find very few people have assistantships.

Also - if your grades are good, start researching fellowships in your area like crazy. Applications for the best ones are typically due in early Nov or so for the following fall.

[~pi]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

I'd never pay for a PhD program, nor would I encourage anyone to enroll in a PhD they'd have to pay for themselves. For most programs, if a PhD program wants you, they should be able to offer you fellowships/assitantships to at least pay tuition and some living costs. If you are single, you can usually live on what they pay you if you're frugal. With a family, you'll need more. If a PhD program doesn't want you enough to offer you aid, that's saying that they don't think that highly of you. If they don't think highly of you now, what are your chances in a highly competitive job market when you're done?

(And Lynn, as Carita said, funding is totally standard in engineering. I would be stunned to find an engineering grad student who isn't fully funded.)

OP, it really depends on the field. My DH did a professional Master's; he took loans for that, and it paid off. I just finished a science PhD; I had some nice fellowships. For me, it would really not have made sense financially or career-wise to go into debt. I was making a good salary in industry, and the payoff for grad school is actually negative for me, but I love research.

[merryns.mom]

thanks for the replies;

i'm going for clinical psy masters; my work would pay for a mba, but i'm trying to get out of the financial field

[Carita]

Can you find a non-financial MBA program, like with a specialiation industrial psychology or something? I know there are many types of MBA programs.

[~pi]

If you have a background in finance and are interested in psychology, have you considered behavioral economics?