We have a child who just graduated from college and another with 3 years to go. Each is full pay (by us through savings- so far, and a little help from grandparents), with some merit money for one of them. Each is likely to want to go to graduate school (MPH and JD). We will not be fully paying for these graduate programs, but are likely to help pay. What kind of person/service could I consult to help our children and us to best plan for paying for graduate school? We are high income in a high cost of living area - but not so high that we can pay for grad school and support ourselves in retirement.
Could they work before attending?
For example, See MPH at Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg Fellows or Welch Scholarship for example. https://www.jhsph.edu/academics/degree-programs/master-of-public-health/tuition-and-scholarships/index.html
For law, see law school admission council
https://www.lsac.org/choosing-law-school/paying-law-school/law-school-scholarships
Or try Peace Corps and Coverdell Fellows program.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/university-programs/coverdell-fellows/
Thanks, the one who has graduated will work this year, and probably next. Your links are helpful as we start to plan ahead.
Other than Harvard, Yale and Stanford (all 3 offer need-based aid only), all law schools offer merit money, but $$ primarily depends on GPA and LSAT.
MPH programs tend to be cash cows for the Universities, at least for those coming right out of undergrad.
A masters student in public heath might be able to get work as an RA if he or she has a good stats background and knows some of the packages used in public health, like Stata, R or SAS
There are also scholarships students can get for MPH programs. I believe the largest ones tend to be about half tuition. These usually go to students with high grades and test scores as well as relevant background work (public health-related research in college; internships or work experience in the field; etc.)
I don’t know if there really is someone to consult, at least not specifically for how to finance graduate school. Most graduate school funding/scholarships are given by the school itself. You could probably find the majority of third-party scholarships/grants by poking around online.
Public health might be an eligible field for the Pickering Fellowship: https://pickeringfellowship.org/graduate-fellowship/overview-and-eligibility/. I’d contact the program and ask, since it’s not listed explicitly.