<p>I've often heard or picked up from conversations on forums, that you should save your money for grad school instead of spending thousands on undergrad. Do they not give government financial aid when you go on to get your Masters, or even institutional aid?
I'm just wondering</p>
<p>D followed this strategy for undergrad, picking an out of state U honors college program where she received full merit aid for being a National Merit Finalist.It did however match up with her needs for a School of Music (very lucky coincidence).She was worried that not coming from a big name top tier U would hurt her chances but it was the research she did and contacts she made which helped(courtesy of the honors college and mentors in her major department).
She now has lucked out a second time by being admitted to a PhD program with full tuition paid plus fellowship at a top 50 U.There's money out there for grad school depending on your major,you have to search it out by reading each schools (graduate)website carefully.There's also the usual government loan programs.Once you have the bachelor's degree you are released from the tyranny of the parent income problems for qualifying for loans,with a bachelor's you are considered an independent student.</p>
<p>Liek:</p>
<p>The answer depends partly on the definition of "grad school." To me, it means Ph.D. granting programs, but for many it means any program beyond the BA, including law, medicine, and other professional schools. For the latter, the chances of getting a fellowship are nil to low. A student contemplating going to law school or med school would be well advised to save on college tuition.
For those going into my narrower definition of grad school, terminal MA degree programs by and large do not give fellowships; a few do, such as MA programs in regional studies at Harvard, but these are the exception rather than the rule. For Ph.D. programs, many do give fellowships, usually a combination of outright grants for the first couple of years and teaching fellowships thereafter. Princeton, I believe, is unique in giving full rides for the full 5 years during which students are expected to complete their dissertations. Others give tuition and stipends (the latter are considered income and thus taxable) for a limited period of time and expect students to support themselves through teaching for the rest of the time it takes them to complete their dissertation. Students in the sciences are often supported by outside research grants such as from NSF or NIH, and may engage in research rather than teaching. There are as well other possible sources of funding, depending on one's field of studies: FLAS for the study of foreign languages, Fulbrights for research abroad, university-based fellowships (usually by competition) and other sources of funding.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Princeton is not unique in providing support for its grad students during a five year period. Other universities, e.g. Ohio University, will provide funding for many of its graduate students through the dissertation process. As Marite points out the situation in professional schools and terminal master's programs is poor for securing financial aid. And unfortunately not all universities release you from the "tyranny of the parent's income problems". For some, you need to have established financial independence which is more or less being on your own for a year.</p>
<p>Mol1oe:</p>
<p>I was under the impression that only Princeton provided a full ride to all its graduate students in Ph.D. programs for the full five years, i.e., not requiring them to teach or do hold a research assistantship. Universities such as Cornell, Yale, Harvard, have packages that include a mix of full tution and full stipends for the first couple of years followed by teaching or research assistantships plus internal and external fellowships. Do you have more information on Ohio University's financial package for graduate students?</p>
<p>Ohio does have a combination of teaching and research fellowships as do many other universities. These are not at all onerous and provide the mechanisms through which students learn to teach and engage in research. These provide the living wages and are accompanied by full tuition reimbursement. You will find a similar setup at most of the Ohio public universities such as Miami of Ohio, Kent State, Bowling Green etc. These assistantships were not considered taxable at least in previous years. I was unaware that Princeton requires nothing in return for its support of graduate studies (sorry should have read your post more carefully). Can this really be the case or is the money designated as fellowship money but there is an expectation of research and scholarly work not tied to a certain number of work hours per week as is found with the typical assistantship?</p>
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Can this really be the case or is the money designated as fellowship money but there is an expectation of research and scholarly work not tied to a certain number of work hours per week as is found with the typical assistantship?
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<p>My understanding is that there is no quid pro quo. Certainly, Princeton graduate students do lead precepts, or do research in teams led by profs, but this is not in order to finance their studies as is the case for other graduate programs, including at Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and most other Ph.D. programs I have heard of. The idea is for the students to gain some experience that will be useful when they go on the job market but to devote most of their time to finishing their dissertation. The pressure to finish within five years is consequently greater than at other universities.</p>
<p>I'm sorry for my confusion, I meant to say when you go on to get your Masters, like an MBA, do schools or government provide scholarship or grants like they do when you're doing an undergraduate program, or does attending school to receive a Masters come out of one's own pocket regardless of income?</p>
<p>I was just wondering because I know in FAFSA you're not considered independent unless your 24, already have a bachelors, have children, married, etc... And for a student fresh out of college with a bachelors degree and who is pursuing a Masters program, obviously wouldn't have a huge income, so do they give you financial aid(grants scholarships etc) to meet your need which will look like a lot, since one is fresh out of college?</p>
<p>What are the chances of someone who studied something unrelated to business actually getting accepted to a top MBA school. </p>
<p>Well basically my concerns are that since I am going to art school to pursue a BFA, I don't think I will get that business background that is needed to understand how a business works and how to manage one.</p>
<p>For MBA--it's a professional degree--: No. See my post above for exceptions regarding MAs.</p>
<p>liek - My S went straight from undergrad to law school at age 22 (unmarried, no children, etc.). I am not an expert at navigating the financial aid maze, but he is considered an independent student and only his FAFSA is required to determine need. I believe you are correct about independence with regard to undergrad (age 24, etc.).</p>
<p>marite is correct in that professional schools (med, law, business, etc.) require a substantial investment on the part of the student. Meeting need for a typical student could mean maxing out on annual loans of 8500 subsidized Stafford + 10000 unsubsidized Stafford + 3000 subsidized Perkins + private loans. Very, very few merit awards are available.</p>
<p>Oh I see now, so I guess I'll just stick to state schools that offer great MBA's like UCB and UCLA. (I'm not loaded with money). </p>
<p>What about if you decide to go back to school for a second bachelor's degree, does one get financial aid for that such as pell grants and subsidized loans?</p>
<p>I will bump this up.</p>
<p>liek,</p>
<p>Most students looking to obtain a MBA often have a few years of work experience under the belt and are ususally working while obtaining the degree. If this is the case, it is not unusual if you work for a company that has a decent tuition aid program for your job to pay for or reimburse you for tuition paid for a MBA program. Some companies sponsor thier employees through EMBA's (executive MBA) programs where they may be attending classes in a seminar style a few weekends a month.</p>
<p>It is not unusual for someone not majoring in business to obtain a MBA Think about the ivies and the lacs where most of the students have liberal arts and not business degrees).</p>
<p>Liek:</p>
<p>If your interest is to use your BFA to carve a career, you may not need to go to B school and get an MBA. There are part-time, evening, adult education classes that could answer your purpose. These tend to be far less expensive than a full-blown MBA program. At any rate, most MBA programs expect participants to have worked a few years. In many cases, the participants have their fees paid by their companies.</p>
<p>Interesting, besides having work experience how does top MBA schools choose their students from the applicants. Do they base it on test scores, undergrad grades, and the type of job you have?</p>
<p>Undergrad grades, GMAT scores, personal statements, resumes, and depending on the major, the type of work you are doing.</p>
<p>I am not aware of a lot of companies paying for FULL TIME MBA training at top schools. Part time? Yes. </p>
<p>The problem companies face is that a big attraction of top MBA programs is the placement services. Not many companies want to pay big $$ for employees to get jobs at other companies. </p>
<p>Executive MBA programs are a different category, but would not be of interest to recent grads anyway. Most executive MBA candidates are tied with golden handcuffs anyway. Conventional MBA students are not.</p>
<p>I know my company pays for MBA and EMBA programs. Since we are a major corporation with offices through out the country, we will cover almost any school (if you get in and the program does not interfer with your job we pay up to $10,000 per year. we used to have a no cap on tuition program first masters was over $50,000 and company picked up everything except books).</p>
<p>Yes, our company paid for many MBAs / EMBAs for people to then leave. It used to be a running joke if you did nothing else wile working for "Joe and willy corp" You had babies and went to school because they both were pretty much free. </p>
<p>with our tuition change we now have a 3 year service agreement for masters program. If you leave before the 3 years are up, you pay the prorated amount of what compnay paid for your education. If you are laid off or part of a VRIF, you owe nothing.</p>