how do people fund themselves through grad school?

<p>hm, firstly, on average, does a 1-year graduate program at top private schools i.e. Harvard cost the same as a year of its undergraduate program?</p>

<p>also, is it actually possible to pay for the grad school tuition by being a teaching or research assistant?</p>

<p>I'm not sure what field your is, but in my field (physical sciences), graduate school is almost always funded through a teaching or research assistantship. An assistantship package includes full tuition, a living stipend, and usually some kind of health care.</p>

<p>In my public university, tuition is higher for graduate students than for undergraduates per credit hour. This may be due to the fact that grad student take less credits than undergrads, so it evens out. I don't care either way, since I don't pay for it. I don't know about Harvard's fees.</p>

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also, is it actually possible to pay for the grad school tuition by being a teaching or research assistant?

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</p>

<p>Since TA/RAships normally include a full tuition waiver as well as a stipend, yes.</p>

<p>Scholarships appear to be almost ubiquitous. I have one from a charitable foundation, not my college.</p>

<p>For engineering, it depends on the field. Its actually common for people to pay full freight for their masters in fields such as chem e, civil,, industrial, mechanical, electrical..etc.</p>

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For engineering, it depends on the field. Its actually common for people to pay full freight for their masters in fields such as chem e, civil,, industrial, mechanical, electrical..etc.

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</p>

<p>The factor may not be that it's engineering, but rather that the one year MS degrees in engineering tend to only be courses and no research. The university isn't getting anything out of you being there so they have no reason to give you any discount.</p>

<p>While most PhD students are fully funded, terminal masters programs don't usually offer much money. For students in that situation, loans are usually the answer if outside funding can't be secured.</p>

<p>But even in a terminal master's program, it's possible to get funding -- my husband took some time off after undergrad to work as an engineer, and his company will pay his tuition and his current salary when he goes back to school. It's not a bad deal in the least.</p>

<p>Funding with a terminal master's is also field-dependent. I was fully-funded for over a year with a TAship through my home department (chem). Since we were a big school (~25,000), our dept also offered TAships to grad students in other programs so they'd get paid as well.</p>

<p>(Of course, teaching chem lab alongside a near-clueless computer science grad wasn't very much fun. I got to babysit his class as well.)</p>

<p>I agree. That's why is said "usually." Having your company pay for your grad school or receiving a TAship are hardly the norm at the masters level (although I do think that most people can find a program in their field that offers TAships if they look hard enough).</p>

<p>In some humanities disciplines, the majority of MA programs are fully funded (full tuition remission + stipend). </p>

<p>As astrina said, likelihood of funding at the Masters level is entirely field-dependent.</p>

<p>My program is a master's. Tuition + stipend + research costs + flights from home country + grant for internship between first and second years. It can be found in some fields if not others.</p>

<p>Some very priofessionally oriented masters such as MBAs, MPA, and MPPs seem to be amost devoid of scholarships but I suppose that is to be expected since most of them are meant for individuals arleady in the work force.</p>