Pursuing an advanced degree can significantly boost your career and increase your salary. However, deciding to further your education involves careful financial planning. For students considering graduate school, knowing about funding options is crucial. Scholarships specifically designed for graduate students can lighten the burden of student loans, making it easier to achieve your educational goals.
Paying for graduate school
Just like with finding money for your undergraduate degree, the same steps and resources can be available to you as a master’s or doctorate student. Scholarships that cover your tuition, fees and books, etc., are desirable, but know that these kind of scholarships are highly competitive. Most graduate students use a combination of scholarship opportunities, tuition waivers, grants, and fellowships to fund their graduate school experience.
Scholarships for graduate students
Similar to your undergraduate degree, there are scholarships available for professional degrees. While there are fewer scholarships for college students attending graduate school, there is still money out there to be had so don’t discount this option without giving it a chance.
When it comes to scholarships, it’s a good idea to keep yourself organized. You may want to create a scholarship spreadsheet to keep track of the scholarships, the application requirements and due dates. Carefully check to ensure you qualify for the scholarship before beginning your application.
Fulbright Program
Fulbright Grants help promote the exchange of ideas across countries and are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Partnering with 140 countries around the world, the Program gives students the opportunities to pursue their study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. While receiving a Fulbright grant, you will be able to live, interact, and learn from those living in the host country. Fulbright Grants have a variety of award opportunities depending on the type of award you are applying for:
- Open Study/Research Award- you design and propose a project for a specific country
- English Teaching Assistant- you provide the presence of a native English speaker to help supplement local English language instruction
- Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowships in Public Health- promotes research of public health in locations with limited resources
- Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship- assist in producing online and digital content that develops the global narratives and commonalities that are found in spite of national or regional boarders
Programs like the Fulbright Grant Program facilitate an exchange of ideas through learning and sharing daily interactions and exchanges. Through cultural exchanges, students learn and question their own lives and cultures to promote mutual understanding.
Length and funding vary based on the grant applied for.
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and one of the most notable international scholarships, established in 1903. It seeks to connect learners with varied backgrounds and views to openly debate and challenge thinking to create new ideas. Many Rhodes Scholars go on to serve and impact their communities for good by serving within government, research, education, journalism, and many other fields.
Students are invited to apply for this opportunity and if selected will be supported throughout their time of study at the University of Oxford. 102 scholarships are awarded each year. These scholarships cover all school fees for two to three years and allow you to study any full-time subject at Oxford University.
Truman Scholarship
Undergraduate students with a strong potential for leadership, who excel academically, and are dedicated to public service are invited to apply for the Truman Scholarship. This scholarship is intended to help advance your academic pursuits in any graduate degree (except for MBA degrees). 55 to 65 scholars are selected to receive up to $30,000 for graduate school.
Applying for the Truman Scholarship begins the year before you graduate with your bachelor’s degree. You must be attending grad school directly following your undergraduate course work. This scholarship is directed to students who intend to use graduate school to help you pursue a career in public service. Your current or former U.S.-based accredited school will have to nominate you for the Truman Scholarship. This limits your school to four nominees along with three additional transfer nominees.
Beinecke Scholarship
The Beinecke Scholarship is geared to graduate-level studies of the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Undergraduate juniors who are enrolled in participating institutions must be planning on attending graduate school upon graduation and should contact the liaison of their particular institution for more information regarding the nomination process.
Scholarship recipients initially receives $4,000 prior to entering graduate school and receives $30,000 more while they are attending graduate school. You are encouraged to attend graduate school upon undergraduate graduation. This scholarship provides you five years after your undergraduate graduation to utilize the provided funding.
Other scholarship opportunities
In searching for a scholarship, realize that you can use lots of ways to customize your search. Scholarships can be specific to your industry, degree, region, or university. Talking to the financial aid office or to the department of your specific major could lead you to invaluable scholarships.
Also seek out for scholarships that are geared toward your demographic and specific population. Region-based scholarships make for a smaller pool of applicants, so contact your state’s Department of Education for more information.
The applications for scholarships are usually free, but you may have to pay for copies of your undergraduate transcript for your applications. You should read all the requirements for the scholarship prior to beginning your application.
Scholarships From Our Partners
More ways to pay for graduate school
Grants for graduate school are like scholarships in that you do not typically have to pay them back. Different organizations, companies, states, and others have available grants for graduate students. Grants usually are most often need-based and can be related to your prospective field. Federal grants are usually need-based and can be available if you are working to fill a specific need or discipline.
TEACH Grant
As a TEACH Grant recipient, you are required to be enrolled as a undergraduate, post baccalaureate, or graduate student in a school that participates in the TEACH Grant Program. You are also required to maintain a specific GPA. Students commit to a teaching service Agreement to Serve or Repay. The Agreement states that you will teach a high need subject in a low-income area with a shortage of educators. You also agree to serve for four years. If you do not uphold your end of the agreement, your grant will convert to a federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan.
Rotary Foundation Peace Fellowship
The Rotary Foundation's Peace Fellowship seeks to award students interested in helping find lasting solutions for the difficult issues. Candidates who have demonstrated devotion to seeking out peace and resolving conflict will take on extensive research with an involved and diverse cohort.
The program devoted to the study of peace and development and last 15-24 months. Fellowship applicants must have three years of full-time relevant experience. Your most recent degree should have been completed at least three years ago.
Fellowships
Fellowship funding is given to assist in subsidizing the cost of your education. Fellowship committees typically look at your future potential to make a positive impact within your academic discipline. Fellowships can also build your reputation as a scholar and sets you apart in the job market.
Often with a fellowship, your tuition can be covered, and you may also be given a living expenses stipend. Fellowship funds can often be used for tuition, textbooks, housing, or any other costs relating to your education. From time to time, fellowships may fund scholarly trips, projects, dissertations, or thesis projects.
More >>> Graduate Fellowships
Student Loans
In being dedicated to your education, it may become necessary to borrow a loan. After exhausting federal grants, scholarships, and fellowships, it may be time to weigh your student loan options. With both federal and private student loans, you can bridge gaps in your financial aid that may arise.
Federal Student Loans
Graduate students, no matter if there is a financial need or not, are eligible for Direct Unsubsidized Loans. These loans have low, fixed rates and also have access to federal repayment plans with forbearance and deferment terms. You are also not required to have a credit check, a cosigner, or a separate loan application.
Federal student loans also include Grad PLUS loans. While you should borrow as much as you can to cover graduate school costs with unsubsidized loans, Grad PLUS loans are available to you. These loans have a higher interest rate and origination fee. The loan limits for Grad PLUS Loans are dependent on your school’s cost of attendance minus any other aid received and there are no aggregate loan limits.
More >>> Student Loans for Graduate School
Private Student Loans
When it comes to private graduate student loans, you can seek out competitive rates based on the current market trends. It is possible to make private student loans feasible with a variety of terms and benefits that are offered by each lender. Along with flexible repayment terms and a variety of benefits potentially offered by each lender, you can make a private student loan work for you.
Private loans offered by banks and credit unions will complete a credit check to ensure you can qualify for a graduate student loan. You may be required to apply with a cosigner if you have an adverse credit history, a low credit score, and little to no employment history.