Do Universities offer Need-Based Financial Aid at graduate level?
not really. aid for grad students is usually merit based. Many masters programs don’t have much or any merit…so often students take loans.
PhD programs are often well funded…but hard to get into.
There really isn’t a lot of need based aid at the graduate level. There are Direct Loans, but none are subsidized at the graduate level. Some schools do have limited work study finds for grad students.
The aid for graduate studies is usually merit based, and is based on the strength of your application, and the school’s desire to have you as a member of the cohort in your department. Aid comes on the form of fellowships, assistant ships, grants, scholarships, sometimes work study, and loans.
So would you say it’s much more difficult to get money for graduate school than undergrad?
It depends.
What major in grad school?
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If D attends CWRU, and major either in BME or Chem Eingineering, with premed track after the University and outside scholarships and grants, she will accumulate $50,000 in loan debts in 4 yrs.
If she attends Missouri University of Science & Technology, and major in Chem E or Biomedical Engineering, and with premed track, in 4 yrs, she’ll be $25,000 in debt.
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Are you asking about med school?? Med school is typically paid for by large student loans. In some cases, if stats are very strong, a med school might offer some merit to “poach” you from another school.
We’ve seen kids with extremely high MCAT scores…like MCAT 39 and high GPA get full tuition merit awards to schools like Northwestern’s med school because they’re trying to poach from a higher ranked SOM.
Merit works a bit differently for the med school app process. Once you get a merit offer, the school must report it by a certain date, and then the OTHER med schools that have accepted you can see the offer and choose to offer their own merit.
This happened to my son. He received one merit offer from one med school, and then received merit offers from the other two med schools who were trying to protect their yield.
Most of the aid is merit based. Many grad programs do not have finding.
It is MUCH more difficult to get need based aid for grad school because it just doesn’t exist.
D has dropped premed and doing BME undergrad. She has her eyes on Masters in BME.
Tell your daughter to get a job as a ME when she gets her undergrad degree. There are still businesses that will pay for a portion of graduate study.
Well, she might change her mind later and hang on the premed track, but for now, it’s on hold. She said BME courses teach a lot of Biology and Medical applications.
@thumper1 What if she’s on the Biomaterials track for BME? What other Engineering jobs will she be qualified with her degree?
My kid was a bioengineering major in undergrad school. There were no jobs in that field without an advanced degree.
But my kid was not a mechanical engineering major.
If she is thinking premed it doesn’t matter what she majors in. Does she want to work in BME? One of my s’s did all the premed stuff but then decided he didnt want to do med school, so changed majors to Chem E and psychology. Had considered biotech (one job was in the silicone implant field!) but is in another engineering/tech field.
@LanaHere you just can’t ask sweeping general questions and think there is a one size fits all. What year is your student? Is she deciding on undergrad or grad school? It is hard to tell from the people adding quotes. Did she drop premed as a prefrosh or as a college student? But bottom line is no, no, no need aid. Every grad student has need anyway.
College students can position themselves for grad school by getting involved in research as an undergraduate. Their commitment and interest in research and the underlying academic classes that support that research can add serious gravitas to their application and their offers. Been there, done that with dd who had an entire life of research outside of classwork and took grad classes when needed to learn important concepts. This results in LOR that can speak to your suitability for a paid grad position.
If you are prepared for a PhD you can get a funded position in most STEM. Some areas are extremely competitive and have a 2 pct acceptance as opposed to a 5%. If you are not committed to the PhD, then being canny about who needs paid grad TAs is not a bad strategy. Visit the Grad forum, or rather your student should.
@jym626 , Hi!!! How are you? And D has dropped premed.
@BrownParent , D is a sophomore in college. She dropped premed last year (2 weeks into her 1st Biology class). She took AP Biology in High School.
She attends Case Western Reserve and her major curriculum includes research. In addition, she had 4 summers of medical research (proteins) at a medical school research lab where she worked with a MSTP student.
The research project was for the MSTP student’s PhD dissertation. She was his Lab Assistant. No, she wasn’t there just clean up lab equipment or sweep the floor. She actually assisted him in his research, so much so that he included her name in his work, and when it gets published, her name will be on it.
Presently she’s taking part I of a 2 course series for BME majors: Physiology/Biophysics for Engineering.
So I get what you’re saying: Research is the way to go if you want funding for grad school. I’ve been digging up some information and it looks like there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks God for your input.
I am having a heck of a time locating the Graduate forum. Can you post the link?
Thanks!
@Erin’s Dad
Thanks!
Hi Lana!
If she is for sure wanting grad school, then agreed, research (grant) funding is typically the way grad students get funding. If she want a career… well,for kicks and giggles, as they say, here is payscale’s list of pay by type of engineering. http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/common-jobs-for-majors/engineering?page=4
@jym626 Thank you so much. I will look at it.