Is there financial aid in grad school?

[Anteaters]

So I've always been under the impression that you don't get the same kind of financial aid in grad school as you did in undergrad. However, a coworker of mine recently told me about his friend who received a tuition waiver at Cal State Long Beach for grad school. I think it was a university grant or something but he told me to go fill out a FAFSA. I might as well do it but is it going to me get any kind of aid?

[OctaviaButlerfan]

I'm still in the process of applying for graduate school. It is my impression that every school is different, but there is usually some sort of financial aid available in graduate school. Sometimes there are grants that will cover the entire cost of tuition and even other expenses. You will not get a Pell grant, and I don't believe graduate students are eligible for work study, either. However, you have to fill out a FAFSA to get most of the grants that the college offers, unless they are based only on merit and not on financial need at all.

<br />So I've always been under the impression that you don't get the same kind of financial aid in grad school as you did in undergrad.  However, a coworker of mine recently told me about his friend who received a tuition waiver at Cal State Long Beach for grad school.  I think it was a university grant or something but he told me to go fill out a FAFSA.  I might as well do it but is it going to me get any kind of aid?<br />

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[runonsentence]

So I've always been under the impression that you don't get the same kind of financial aid in grad school as you did in undergrad. However, a coworker of mine recently told me about his friend who received a tuition waiver at Cal State Long Beach for grad school. I think it was a university grant or something but he told me to go fill out a FAFSA. I might as well do it but is it going to me get any kind of aid?

Most graduate students fund their studies through competitive fellowships and assistantship positions offered through their universities. The availability and amount of funding, as well as what the school expects you to do in order to earn it (i.e., teach, research, administrative tasks) depends entirely on the programs you apply to. Usually, funding will provide a full or partial tuition waiver, a stipend to cover living expenses, and at least some help with health insurance.

Funding is more common at the doctoral level than the master's level, and more common in disciplines like the hard sciences, social sciences, and humanities than in the arts or professional degree programs (i.e., medical school, law school).

It's highly unadvisable to go deep into debt to get a graduate degree, but some students do finance their degrees through federal and/or private loans.

[studentaffairsgrad]

I don't qualify for any type of financial aid, even though paying for grad school would put me in a lot of debt, which sucks.

Luckily, in my field of higher education almost everyone has to get an assistantship to be in the program. Like the person above said, depending on the program and funding assistatnships can be a great way to pay for grad school.

I will be working for the housing dept as a residence hall director. I get a full tuition waiver, stipend, room and board, plus parking. Check with your program and see if they offer assistantship opportunities in your field, or a related field. If they don't, you might have to do some leg work and see if you can convince a department that they need you!

Another option is to get a position at a company working full time, who will pay for you to go to grad school. It happens more commonly in certain industries like business than others. But a number of people at the old financial company I used to work for were getting MBAs for free, but often you have to promise the company a certain number of years you will work for them.

[nimo6211]

Hi: That state funding you mentioned subsidizes tuition and is the only free funding you will get for grad. school. Then again, I got a separate notice from Financial Aid that cautioned me that even that "aid" may not be available for graduate students and they were checking on it.