Who awards the MPP/MPA most funding?

[MJA87]

After going through a ton of results from the GradCafe results database and reading a lot of peoples' signatures, it seems to me that there are a few schools who are very generous with awarding funding. I'm trying to come up with my final list of six to eight programs to apply to, and the possibility of receiving funding is one of my main concerns. My goal with this thread is to start a discussion about which schools have good MPP/MPA programs and are likely to offer funding to qualified candidates.

 

For example, I've noticed that both USC Price and CMU Heinz seem to offer a good amount of funding to a lot of the applicants represented on this board, whereas UW Evans doesn't seem to offer very much at all. Is it just a private vs. public school thing? What are some other generous programs?

[KenBesonders]

Maxwell seems to come up a bit.

[RCtheSS]

Princeton WWS is known for providing full stipends, which you've also probably read on here.

[MJA87]

Princeton WWS is known for providing full stipends, which you've also probably read on here.

 

Yeah, which is pretty amazing if you ask me. The only problem is you have to get in first I don't think I'd stand a chance: I'll have ~4.5 years of okay policy experience (state level policy analyst, state legislature, ect) but my weak academics would keep me out.

[Gov2School]

Yeah, which is pretty amazing if you ask me. The only problem is you have to get in first I don't think I'd stand a chance: I'll have ~4.5 years of okay policy experience (state level policy analyst, state legislature, ect) but my weak academics would keep me out.

 

You might want to try applying anyway.  Your policy experience could be a real X factor.  Maybe it doesn't seem like much to you, but as you'll see from these boards, lots of people apply who have no relevant experience, so even a little can be helpful.  Honestly, I think trying to figure out funding can be a little bit of an unknown.  A lot of people will say that your GRE score plays a heavy role in how much funding you get, which might be true.  But I got a huge scholarship from one of the notoriously stingy programs (SIPA) despite having not great GRE quant scores (in the low 150s).  I think my work experience really made a difference there.  I also didn't think I would get in to WWS (no math classes in college and oh boy, that GRE score), but I was accepted. A lot depends on what the schools are looking for, and you can't know that until you throw your hat in the ring with the programs you're most interested in. 

 

Another thing to look for is what resources they offer BEYOND scholarships for tuition.  For example, do they offer funding to support student internships? Conference travel? Language study? What is there career service support like and how involved are they?  These are all things above and beyond tuition costs that you might incur and can really add up. It's one of the reasons I didn't choose SIPA, even though I was getting a great offer on my tuition, I didn't get the impression there were a lot of other resources available to support students once they were there. 

[MPPgal]

LBJ in public and offered the most funding of any school I applied to.

[MJA87]

LBJ in public and offered the most funding of any school I applied to.

 

Looking through the collection of posted LBJ results, I'm thinking you're an exception. It doesn't look like they give a ton of money, let alone the amazing package they offered you (make sure to read that with a very jealous tone).

[MPPgal]

I would argue the opposite, as being here i actually can speak of classmates better than a self reporting on grad cafe, most out of staters who decided to attend got at least an in state tuition waver and many got some good money as well, aka enough to cover tuition. However most in state people did not, that is for sure, yet it is still one of the most affordable schools so for in staters they are getting an amazing education for 10k a year plus living expenses.

[Gov2School]

And let's not forget that it's a lot cheaper to live in Texas than in lots of other places, so even if you get less aid it goes farther.   I agree though, it's important to keep in mind that the GradCafe is a very biased sample.  Not everyone reports their financial info, lots of people here are international students (and therefore not eligible for some aid or scholarships). Take it all with a block of salt. 

[MPPgal]

Yeah, which is pretty amazing if you ask me. The only problem is you have to get in first I don't think I'd stand a chance: I'll have ~4.5 years of okay policy experience (state level policy analyst, state legislature, ect) but my weak academics would keep me out.

An advice, DO AMAZING IN YOUR GREs, it is your way of showing that your weak academics were a thing of the past when you were an immature student but now you can study and study well. I had only a 3.4 but amazing GREs gave me a comparative advantage.

[MJA87]

An advice, DO AMAZING IN YOUR GREs, it is your way of showing that your weak academics were a thing of the past when you were an immature student but now you can study and study well. I had only a 3.4 but amazing GREs gave me a comparative advantage.

 

That's really my last hurdle to having a good application. I struggled with algebra when I was 16 and school was my life, it's going to be tricky to master it now with such limited free time but I've got to figure it out.

 

Do you mind if I ask your scores? I have a 3.4 GPA as well and I always like to see what stats other people have applied with to the schools I'm targeting.

[MPPgal]

165 math, 160 verbal and 4.5 writing.

[KenBesonders]

Fairly solid scores. They could earn you some funding at the higher-mid tier MPP and MPA schools. It will also help you with admissions to some elite schools but funding will be more competitive. Work experience can help remedy this.

[Gov2School]

Those a really great GRE scores. 

[RCtheSS]

Welp, after searching through this forum and the Results Search submissions, I guess I'll need to retake my GRE if I want a stronger shot at funding.

 

158 V, 158 Q, 4.5 AW. While I was satisfied with my scores at the time, now I want to make sure I'm more competitive.

Edited September 19, 2014 by RCtheSS

[fenderpete]

WWS cares about public service, not just grades or quant skills. I'm living proof you don't need to be an econ major to get in!

[rdt425]

80% of Cornell CIPA students are awarded funding. Plus they recently moved into the College of Human Ecology (which is a NYS contract college), so their tuition was reduced by about a third.

[MPPgal]

Welp, after searching through this forum and the Results Search submissions, I guess I'll need to retake my GRE if I want a stronger shot at funding.

 

158 V, 158 Q, 4.5 AW. While I was satisfied with my scores at the time, now I want to make sure I'm more competitive.

It depends on your work experience and grades, lower grades need higher GREs than that, but if you have higher than 3.7 you should be fine

[albuhhh]

Apoorv, this is the wrong thread for that. I believe there's a "what are my chances" thread.

 

In regards to the OP, a couple of observations from my own experience applying last fall:

 

-CMU Heinz gives a ton of $$$ to its PP students. I have not met a single person who isn't getting something, and it's usually a significant amount (half or more). I have a theory that Heinz is able to do this because the public policy program is housed in the same school as the Information Systems program, which brings in a huge number of students (double or triple public policy). I haven't specifically talked to the IS students about their aid situation, but I'm guessing that a lot of them are paying sticker price and essentially subsidizing the PPMs. Pure speculation, though. Also, if you have Americorps affiliation, Heinz gives a ton of aid for that as well. Pittsburgh is a great city and has super cheap rent - definitely not something to overlook.

 

-USC is also quite generous with the cash. They had a visitation day just for students with half or full scholarships, and they filled up a ballroom with all of us. There were at least 50 or 60 public policy students alone, and if I remember correctly, they only matriculate 40 or 50 students a year for PP.

 

-On the flipside, I found the New York schools to be much tighter with cash. I didn't end up applying to Columbia because of their reputation as a cash cow. I ended up having to turn down NYU, one of my top choices, because of their financial aid package compared to others. As far as I can tell, all of their big scholarships are named or categorized so that only one student gets a scholarship for that category every year. I was lucky enough to receive one, but even then, it only covered half tuition, and bundled with cost of living in NY, it still would have been 3-4x the cost of attending another institution. I also discovered how shockingly low minimum wage is in NY, so RA positions don't really help here.

 

-In general, I found private schools to be more generous with money and more willing to negotiate, although I know that some public schools have tuition assistance and remission programs if you TA or RA, which isn't always advertised. I ended up getting substantial scholarship assistance from schools I was completely not expecting anything from, and exactly $0 from public schools.