<p>For any students applying to Masters programs, how do you intend to pay for them, just loans, loans and savings, grants, combination of both?
I've talked to many students who are gapping their applications to work a year to help pay for the tuition. Some are just going to bite the bullet and take out loans and others are going part time. Just wondered what some are planning especially with the economy still not very healthy.</p>
<p>The company that I work for is paying for my Masters…now my only real obstacle is getting accepted to one. :/</p>
<p>That’s great, my niece had her masters paid for although she owes the business 3 years (accounting)
My son is going to apply to Psych programs, he will be paying as little as possible…some loans if accepted but he has a limit he wont go over.</p>
<p>I lived with family and worked half-time at the university I attended, giving me tuition benefits.</p>
<p>Don’t do an unfunded Masters in the humanities.
There are many funded MA programs out there, so just find the right one for you.</p>
<p>I’m applying to School Psych programs, some are funded a lot, some a little, some not at all…those I am avoiding! It is hard to get clear answers though because some will give funding if they really want you, not as much if they don’t. It will take a lot of patience next Spring.</p>
<p>An article on grad school debt amounts:
[A</a> Graduate Degree In Debt - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/10/college-graduate-school-loans-personal-finance-retirement-grad-school-debt.html]A”>A Graduate Degree In Debt)
From finaid:
Graduate and professional students borrow even more, with the additional cumulative debt for a graduate degree typically ranging from $30,000 to $120,000. The median additional debt is $25,000 for a Master’s degree, $52,000 for a doctoral degree and $79,836 for a professional degree. A quarter of graduate and professional students borrow more than $42,898 for a Master’s degree, more than $75,712 for a doctoral degree and more than $118,500 for a professional degree. At the 90th percentile cumulative debt for graduate and professional degrees exceeds $59,869 for a Master’s degree, $123,650 for a doctoral degree and $159,750 for a professional degree. </p>
<p>The following table shows the percentage borrowing and average amount of cumulative debt per borrower among graduating students according to degree program. It provides the amounts borrowed for just the graduate education and also the combined totals for undergraduate and graduate education. Undergraduate students who graduate with a Bachelor’s degree and no debt are 1.7 times more likely to enroll in graduate and professional school than Bachelor’s degree recipients who graduate with some debt. </p>
<p>Graduate Education Debt All Education Debt
(Grad & Undergrad)<br>
Graduate & Professional Degree Programs Percent Borrowing Cumulative Debt Percent Borrowing Cumulative Debt<br>
Total 56.4% $40,297 69.6% $47,503
Master’s Degree 55.2% $31,031 69.4% $40,208
Doctoral Degree 45.8% $57,860 56.3% $58,967
Professional Degree 86.2% $87,308 87.9% $98,711
Master of Business Administration (MBA) 55.5% $31,927 68.9% $41,676
Master of Social Work (MSW) 72.3% $35,516 77.7% $49,017
Master of Science (MS) 49.8% $30,684 63.5% $40,362
Master of Arts (MA) 60.8% $29,975 73.7% $40,500
PhD 35.4% $44,995 48.0% $45,455
EdD 65.1% $43,812 73.3% $44,880
Law (LLB or JD) 88.6% $80,081 88.6% $92,937
Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine 81.9% $119,424 83.2% $127,272
Pharmacy (PharmD) 82.2% $63,412 85.0% $81,838 </p>
<p>Grants, scholarships, work-study and other forms of gift aid just do not cover the full cost of a college education. Many students find that they must supplement their savings with government and private loans. The Federal education loan programs offer lower interest rates and more flexible repayment plans than most consumer loans, making them an attractive way to finance your education. You can also deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest even if you don’t itemize deductions on your income tax return. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Why are doctoral students going into so much more debt than Masters students if they get tuition+ payed for and a stipend (~$24000/year)?</p>
<p>Not all PhD students get a full stipend/R&B, but I wouldn’t accept myself if it wasn’t at least 3/4. Many schools just give partial stipends and they aren’t always guaranteed all the years you are there.
They also need loans for living expenses, dissertation, etc. if they don’t get grants and different fields are better than others.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Only students in science/engineering are given a full stipend. People in “soft” science or humanities often only get partial, if any, stipend.</p>
<p>
Ditto. My MA in Classics pays for tuition and gives me a $10K stipend (not a lot, but enough for me to live on).</p>
<p>I can’t speak for other programs, but my field has such poor job prospects that one should seriously reconsider graduate school, even WITH funding. I couldn’t imagine going without it.</p>
<p>It’s worth it to pursue a MA with a half-tuition scholarship (more common, better than no funding at all). Get a work-study job or teaching/research assistantship to make money on the side. You will graduate with less debt.</p>
<p>Can someone please explain to me what a funded MA program is?</p>
<p>I’d really like to study Linguistics or Linguistics/Computer Science at the undergraduate level, but I’m having a difficult time finding out how I can pay for grad school (I’m considering speech therapy) with a four-year degree in those areas.</p>
<p>I will pay for mine the same way I paid for my entire undergrad education. 100% military tuition assistance. They don’t pay us much, but my undergrad degree would have cost me tens of thousand of dollars. I paid for nothing but books. My graduate degree may cost me a little out of pocket, but Uncle Sam is getting about $10K of it straight away.</p>
<p>Eh3322, a funded MA program is one that provides financial assistance to its students, through tuition waivers, stipends, and/or TAships. These days, it’s rare to get full assistance at the MA level, but funded programs take away some of the sting. </p>
<p>For Linguistics/Computer Science, you should look into a fully funded PhD program (that is, they pay for everything, plus give you a stipend for living expenses) or, alternately, find a job with a company that will pay for you to get your master’s degree in that field. </p>
<p>But it sounds as though you haven’t even started your undergraduate education yet. It’s far too early to look into paying for grad school.</p>
<p>i got my MS tuition waived plus a stipend by TA’ing (a super good deal imo)</p>
<p>I think it depends on what type of masters degree also. In business, I know many students who had their workplace pay for it (if so lucky to have found a job) My niece had her CPA covered and classes, my nephew is having his degree partially paid for by his employer (but after 3 years on the job)
In social sciences, that is harder. My son feels without a Masters/Eds/PhD, the postions he would want wouldn’t be available.</p>
<p>How much of the tuition is covered just by being a TA for the whole year?</p>
<p>That varies by school, there are guide books out that list colleges and stipends, etc. but nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>to Chaospaladin, I went to OSU (ohio state) and stipend depended on how much you work</p>
<p>for the standard 20 hrs/week, the pay was tuition waiver+around $2k/mo., which is similar to the PhD stipend. it is a LOT of time thou, giving that you have your own school work to take care of, so some of my fellow MS TAs chose to do 10-15 hrs/week. I imagine it’s easier to get funded with public schools.</p>