<p>I heard for PhDs programs you get full funding at least for most schools but none for MA students.
Does this also apply for financial aid? When school mentions funding do they mean FA?</p>
<p>Nothing is every black and white - a lot of schools will admit students who are willing to self-finance (note: this is a bad idea!!), and a lot of masters students can still get funding. But you are still much more likely to get funding (and better funding) as a doctoral candidate.</p>
<p>And yes, “funding” is generally the same as “financial aid”. You CAN still get loans, and there are a handful of prizes/scholarships (which generally favor or are limited to doctoral students), but the vast majority of grad student money comes from assistantships or fellowships.</p>
<p>So basically it’s very unlikely for master students to receive any form of funding except for loans?</p>
<p>In the sciences, a master student still has a decent chance at an assistantship, but it is not likely to be either guaranteed or even to be in place on arrival. A PhD student will often have their funding arranged for them, a masters candidate needs to be proactive and aggressive and understand that their funding may well need to be pursued anew every year. But there are certainly some departments where funding for masters is all but nonexistent, something that you NEVER hear for doctoral students.</p>
<p>^Yes, it depends on the program, like comicfish says.</p>
<p>-Financial aid =/= funding. These days “financial aid” has also come to include loans. So read carefully when looking at websites. A lot of them will be like “We offer financial assistance!” and they mean that you can get a federal loan if you go there.</p>
<p>-Many MS programs in the STEM fields have assistantships (generally research, although sometimes teaching) that come with tuition waivers and sometimes additional monies. In some departments most students have some kind of assistantship; in others they are competitive and there are limited slots.</p>
<p>-I also know of many STEM students (master’s and doctoral) who have worked as project coordinators during their programs; since they are typically full-time employees of the university, they make a good salary AND they get a tuition waiver. But this varies from place to place. The PhD students I know who have done it do it because either an RA wasn’t available or because the PC position pays more.</p>
<p>-Some MA programs in the humanities may have assistantships; they’re much more likely to be teaching assistantships. These are usually quite limited and competitive.</p>
<p>-Some programs of both types offer scholarships, but they are unlikely to cover all or even a significant portion of your tuition.</p>
<p>-Professional master’s programs are almost always self-funded (aka, you can get loans). Some professional master’s programs offer scholarships, but they tend to be small and limited. There are also outside programs that offer financial assistance to students entering professional master’s, but they have eligibility criteria - like the Consortium is a full scholarship for MBA programs, but there are only certain schools you can attend (they’re all top programs, though) and you have to be black, Latino or Native American (because the point is to increase MBAs from URM groups).</p>
<p>I just want to add that I read in UVa’s brochure : “Approximately 96 percent of Master of Science and Ph.D. students in the Engineering School receive tuition, health insurance and a monthly stipend for serving as either a research or teaching assistant.”</p>
<p>It depends on the field and the program. Research some programs that interest you. They probably answer your question very clearly.</p>