<p>Many graduate programs in the sciences and humanities typically offer financial aid (grants, some loans, and often TA positions) if accepted. Many "professional" programs (law, medicine, business) do not. Do architecture graduate programs offer aid? Is it generous? It might be argued that other professional programs typically result in higher paying positions than architecture, so substantial debt can be incurred. Not so true for architecture graduates. How do students pay off substantial loans with the typical low starting salaries?</p>
<p>When my D applied to MArch programs, they gave some scholarships (not full!) and the amounts varied per school. They also offer student loans. In my kid’s case, we are funding what the scholarships don’t cover, so I can’t answer how the student pays it off as we are paying it off.</p>
<p>This is a huge issue for architecture graduate programs. In my son’s case, he received about 1/3 in grants, 1/3 in parental support, 1/3 in loans. Even the 1/3 is a heavy burden for a starting architect, so you have to consider your options very carefully. </p>
<p>To avoid massive debt, you can consider schools with co-op programs, or schools that are less costly than the big names. At least have these as backups until you know what your grant packages are.</p>
<p>Full tuition grants do exist, but my understanding is that they are very rare and only offered to students who are exceptionally talented or who offer a demographic that the school wants to include in their class. Or both.</p>