If offered funding as a 2nd year masters student, will it cover first year tuition?

[monmon_4]

Hi there,

 

I was recently accepted to an (unfunded) MS in Mathematics program. I don't think have the credentials to apply for funding yet, as I want to go through my first year of study before deciding on where I want to focus research for my thesis. My question is, if I pay for my first year through student loans and get a funding through a fellowship in my second year, will the funding cover the tuition that I already a loan for in my first year?

 

I suppose the answer is highly dependent on the program. If there are any programs that do, I would like to hear about them, otherwise, what about the below:

 

 

NSF GRFP

NDSEG

SMART

 

Thanks,

monmon_4

Edited May 11, 2014 by monmon_4

[rising_star]

No, the funding wouldn't cover the tuition for your first year if you don't receive it until your second year.

[biisis]

Nope! It's highly unlikely that you'd land anything that big, particularly at the Master's level.

[juilletmercredi]

None of those fellowships are retroactive, so they would not.  The only funding I can think of that retroactively pays your loans for tuition is the Loan Repayment Program, which you can only get post-doctoral (as a postdoc, professor, or other doctoral-level researcher).

 

Also

I don't think have the credentials to apply for funding yet, as I want to go through my first year of study before deciding on where I want to focus research for my thesis. My question is, if I pay for my first year through student loans and get a funding through a fellowship in my second year, will the funding cover the tuition that I already a loan for in my first year?

 

I'm not sure exactly what you meant by this, but the way funding for those fellowships work is that you apply in the fall of one year for funding beginning the fall of the following year.  So for example, the deadline for NSF will be November 2014 if you want your funding package to begin in September 2015, in time for your second year of your MS.  So you don't really have time to go through your first year of study deciding on where you want to focus research, at least in terms of your applications for NSF, NDSEG, and SMART applications.  You'll need to decide over the summer so you can begin writing your application materials by August at the latest.