Lack of Funding for 2021

[slp2023]

I'm just writing to see if anyone else has run into this problem for this year's admission cycle. I knew I really wanted to receive a GA position or fellowship to try to help with the cost of tuition, so I spent hours online researching programs and attending open houses throughout last semester. I double checked with every program that I applied to and they all stated that they have usually 3-5 positions they offer to students ("usually" being an important word here, but I did not think I had any reason to be skeptical).  

While I was ecstatic about the acceptances I received, I have become pretty frustrated within the past few weeks due to most programs coming forward to say that they no longer have funding for master's students or that they only have a fraction of positions to offer. There was one program in particular that has an amazing AAC fellowship and I was told in November that they interview about 5 students and are able to accept 2 students a year into the program. When I asked about the program again once I was accepted late February, I was still told that they were planning on inviting students to interview within the next weeks. When I attended the Open House last week and again asked about it, I was told that they were "crunching numbers" and that they were not sure if they could even offer any students the fellowship. Or, there was another fellowship I was excited about and thought I had a good chance at receiving it until I learned that preference is given to bilingual students (which is totally appropriate for them to look for, I just wish I would have been informed of this information BEFORE I applied to the program with the hopes of receiving the fellowship). It is just annoying how some programs give false hopes about funding and then let students down only weeks before we have to make a decision about where to attend.

I understand the pandemic has caused some financial problems at universities, but tuition was not lowered at a majority of schools so why are students the ones who have to suffer because of funding cuts? There were some programs I was very interested in but did not apply to because they were upfront about not having funding for masters students, but it would have not made a difference financially because I would have been in the same boat as I am now with many programs, so I feel like I missed out on some amazing opportunities. 

Sorry about bringing up this topic that really does not have any solution, I just needed to rant a little bit since April 15th is coming up and it has been a stressful time. Again, I feel very fortunate to have been accepted into graduate programs and I know more funding sometimes becomes available during the summer or fall, but I don't know if I can accept an expensive program without knowing for sure if I will receive assistance. 

[d_slp_2021]

@slp2023This entire situation is such a bummer.  Most of the programs I applied to were upfront about not providing funding outside of a handful of GAships every cycle, so I honestly wasn't anticipating receiving much assistance. It's not surprising that tuition is the same (I'm glad most aren't increasing). I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but I wonder if you can ask about deferring? I've heard of some people deferring for financial reasons and stating that they will be spending the next year saving money and applying for scholarships.

[slp2023]

@d_slp_2021thanks for the advice! I actually took a gap year this year, so I am thankful to be in a slightly better financial situation than I would have been going straight from undergrad to grad school. I really don't want to spend another year working and I'm excited to get back into the classroom and clinic, so I'm not really considering deferring but I would suggest this to anyone who maybe has not taken some time off for themselves post-undergrad yet! But I am definitely looking at scholarships and hope that maybe funding comes up along the way. Thanks and good luck at your program!