<p>Hi all! I'm starting my MLIS at Kent State soon and I'm really excited. However, I'm worried about my financial aid and a bit frustrated...</p>
<p>I applied for admission late because I didn't decide to take the chance and go for it until too late in the first place. So when I got my financial aid info, all I received was loans. At least I don't have to pay out of pocket...but still, I didn't get a penny in grants or scholarships! I'd read multiple sources that said to speak to your financial aid department so I did. But when I politely inquired about further analysis of my "award", I got this in return:</p>
<p>Exactly why would you like your financial aid package to be re-evaluated?</p>
<p>I wouldn't have asked if the suggestion hadn't been made on various other college websites but they seemed offended. I explained that I wasn't trying to be rude but that I wanted to exhaust all avenues so that I can afford college. I think someone else took over answering after that because the tone changed but they told me, "Graduate students are only offered the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Unfortunately, grants are not offered to graduate students by completing the FAFSA application. The Financial Aid Office has a Scholarship Search Qualifier on our website where you can input your information and it generates a list of scholarships."</p>
<p>That seemed a bit strange to me but I thanked them and went on my way. But naturally, after applying for a number of scholarships, none of which are through Kent, I haven't heard a peep. I would have understood if they said I was just too late but the message I took away from that was I won't be getting any grants or scholarships through Kent and that any aid I might be eligible for will come from outside sources... Ouch.</p>
<p>There is very little aid beyond loans at the Masters level. Students who are “desired” will get TA amd research positions. Those who aren’t in that focused group (applying at the last minute) get to take loans. If you decided to go on to a Masters solely because you weren’t sure what to do you may want to reconsider and get a job. That might help you decide where you want to go next.</p>
<p>Most financial aid at the graduate level is based on academic merit, the strength of your application, and the desire of the school to fund you as part of the grad school cohort. Grad school aid can be in the form of teaching assistantships, fellowships, scholarships, sometimes work-study, and loans. </p>
<p>What the FA person at Kent State is telling you is that there are no general grants/scholarships offered to grad students either by the school or by the federal government. You need to apply for grants & scholarships thru your specific graduate dept. </p>
<p>Thank you! So it looks as those I just missed the ones at the top, there’s no other info on them and no announcements. Oh well, there is always next year! I’ll look for whatever I can in the meantime though.</p>
<p>Anyone considering going to graduate school, should research the programs in terms of what stipends, tuition remissions, grants, and financial aid are available. In my day, it was common to see the poor struggling grad students, going for that PHD, living on a tiny stipend, BUT, at least they were not racking up loans as they were doing so. I believe, however, that even back then, terminal master’s programs, especially career track ones and professional programs did not give much if any in the way of grants or tuition waivers. They were money makers for a university, not something they paid for. </p>
<p>These days, with the near auto direct loans available, I believe more grad students even in PHD programs, research programs are finding loans in their package or they are expected to pay somehow. My friend paid for her daughter’s master’s along with her daughter taking out loans, but when she was accepted into the PHD track, it seems that most of her expenses are now covered by stipends. </p>
<p>My son’s SO is in a master’s OT program and she is full pay. She is taking out some loans for it, working part time for her discretional expenses and I believe her parents are paying for some of it. No stipends or grants in the picture and it’s at a private school. Thank goodness she has no UG loans. </p>
<p>When considering master’s programs, make sure you give the direction and the program a thorough check as to whether the payoff for what you will borrowing, paying for it is worth while, especially if you already have UG loans. Those loans as well as the grad loans will be accruing not insignificant interest while you are getting that master’s degree, and the debt so accumulated might not be worth the degree. In my son’s SO’s case, it was clear that even with the loss of income for two years and the loans she is incurring plus interest, her future earning power and opportunities were enhanced by buying this degree. She will make up the cost in 6-8 years of working in the field. and expects to pay off the loan in 10 years. THis is the sort of analysis one should do when considering these things, if money and borrowing are in the picture. If you can afford to pay for the experience with no consideration of payback, then you don’t have to worry.</p>
<p>This varies a lot by field. Almost all science, engineering, and many social science PhD programs would be funded. If they are not, run far, far away.</p>
<p>For Masters, most are unfunded, but I see some funded (in engineering/CS), especially at giant state schools that need a phalanx of TAs.</p>
<p>I would NOT wait til next year to try to get money. The awards are multi-year for incoming grad students and not awarded to continuing grad students. The awards are to attract the best grad students. </p>
<p>You should wait a year and reapply if you want free money for grad school. </p>
<p>That said, many masters programs are unfunded so your decision will depend on that as well. </p>
<p>So I get one crack at it and that’s about it? Once I’m in my second year, those scholarships I missed applying for won’t be open to me? I’m still looking for outside funding but I assumed I’d have a shot at the ones I initially missed.</p>
<p>I don’t like the idea of taking on more debt but if I can manage to work full time while I go full time online, I can theoretically pay my entire year off as I go along. I don’t make a ton but I don’t have many expenses either so if I buckle down, I can at the very least halve my debt each year. Having my Masters should double my income and that’s not even reaching, I just make that little now…</p>
<p>While this may be true in many fields, this isn’t the case for MLS/MLIS programs. (Admission to most MLS/MLIS programs isn’t competitive and program rankings don’t use applicant GRE scores as metric.) Both the ALA and individual schools do award grants to continuing students. So do state professional associations. (I got a small grant as a second year MLIS student from my state organization.) </p>
<p>Still there is just not a whole of funding for library/info science grad students. Not even at the PhD level.</p>
<p>@Bibliothek --librarianship is not a well-paid profession and there are limited employment opportunities right now, (Perhaps career opportunities are even shrinking as funding for school and public library services continues to decline.) I’d strongly advise you to minimize your debt as much as possible. Also look into getting professional certification in LIS-rleated fields like record management and data-base management. Both are much more employable than straight LIS. </p>
<p>It depends upon what you consider “well paid”. As of right now, I earn $12 an hour and have no other options for work. I am a full time retail employee… There are job openings for $20+ an hour at libraries in my area so to me, that is well paid. I have an IT background, considerable customer service experience, previous library experience, management experience, and book selling experience. I decided it was worth the shot, even if it means being creative. A co-worker just got a full time library job.</p>
<p>I am just gonna try to work through it and pick up other skills long the way, maybe refresh my programming skills.</p>
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So I get one crack at it and that’s about it? Once I’m in my second year, those scholarships I missed applying for won’t be open to me? I’m still looking for outside funding but I assumed I’d have a shot at the ones I initially missed.
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<p>You don’t apply for scholarships. I think you misunderstand. When a student applies to grad school, the dept determines whether your stats are so desirable (and if they have the budget), they admit you with some type of offer (assistantship, fellowship, etc). </p>
<p>Agreed. When I was in grad school, in my field there existed excellent competitive scholarships through the NSF and a national pharmaceuticals organization. Highly competitive, but a great help for those who won. Some were for new grad students, some for established one. Search for them through professional organizations in your field. </p>
<p>By applying late, you reduced your opportunity for funding.
Keep doing what you were doing before you decided to apply to graduate school.
But keep a better eye on deadlines and reapply on time next year.</p>