<p>Hello
i am a high school senior and working on application..
I need almost full financial aid for both college and graduate school.
I know that some colleges gives almost full financial aid but i know nothing about graduate school financial aid program. If i can get financial aid, I want to attend a liberal arts college. But if i can't I probably have to attend regular university because I think it is easier to get a job with university degree than with liberal arts college degree.
Help!</p>
<p>What do you count as financial aid? No student loans at all?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the chances of a full ride via scholarships or grants is almost impossible. Schools, when they calculate financial aid packages, include student loans for this very reason. </p>
<p>Undergrad programs will typically have some sort of aid that you don’t have to pay back, in the form of a merit scholarship. Then there are student work programs where you get an on-campus job, and student loans.</p>
<p>At the graduate level, PhD programs will usually have stipends, but Masters programs are typically either self-funded via loans or paid for by your job, if your company offers tuition reimbursement. Masters scholarships, in my experience, are incredibly rare, and GA jobs (helping professors in exchange for tuition reimbursement) are rare and very competitive.</p>
<p>Whoooooaaaa, you need to crawl before you walk (i.e., focus on undergrad before you even think about graduate school). </p>
<p>If you’ve got severe financial need, usually schools have aid to help out. This will be a mix of scholarships, loans, and grants. </p>
<p>Scholarships are merit-based and don’t need to be repaid. You will probably have a minimum GPA at the very least to maintain the scholarship. </p>
<p>Loans are well…loans. You pay them back once you’re out of school (this includes graduate school). If you have financial need, you can qualify for subsidized loans. The government pays the accrued interest while you’re in school. So you’re borrowing money for nearly free. </p>
<p>Grants are need-based, come from the government, and don’t need to be repaid. </p>
<p>You’ll get some mix of these, depending on how flush the school is and how strong your application is. On-campus jobs are an option as well, too.</p>
<p>There are opportunities to get at least partially-funded master’s programs - it depends on the field, the university and the professor you’re working with. I would agree that it’s less common than Ph.D funding, but I wouldn’t rule it out as categorically as awestover89 did. I got one year of my MS funded.</p>
<p>
Generally, these are called fellowships at the graduate level.</p>
<p>
Just to clarify, for graduate students there are no government grants available - the Pell is for undergraduate study only.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to say Masters funding is impossible (hence, the quantifier ‘typical’) I was just trying to say that a full ride is rather rare, and Masters level funding is, at least at all the schools I have looked into, uncommon. Personally, when it comes to finances I err on the side of caution, better to anticipate no financial aid and get some than to plan on receiving and then not.</p>