Funded vs. Unfunded MA

[jeanie]

Just curious, does anyone ever accept an offer for an unfunded MA program?  I hear Columbia offers an unfunded MA program, is it worthwhile to go there and pay?  

[ἠφανισμένος]

I would never do an unfunded (full-time) MA in classics, even from Columbia.  (There was a recent discussion about taking an unfunded Columbia MA offer in the literature forum, I believe; many of the points made there apply to classics as well.)  A postbac is a little different.  And it may also be different if you're an in-service teacher doing a part-time MA or MEd in Latin.  But when I applied for standard classics MAs last season, I decided ahead of time I wouldn't go without funding.

[jeanie]

Thanks.  And I'm going to have to find that discussion in the lit forum.  If you know where it is, can you copy it and put it in here?

[jeanie]

Thanks, Petros.  I found the discussion and it had some good points, like you said.  Anybody else have comments either way?

[Chai_latte]

Even though I haven't studied Latin (formally) since my high school, Vergil/Catullus days, here are my two cents:

Go for the funded MA.  You don't want to be saddled with an insane amount of debt (especially in a humanities field).  Columbia, in particular, costs a king's ransom.

[Pius Aeneas]

I imagine funded MA programs are more difficult to get into in that more people probably apply for admission, but I would say that an unfunded MA is not worth it. There are a handful of strong Classics MA programs which offer funding--there's the University of Arizona, University of Kansas, Florida State, and a few more that I've forgotten.