Graduate student

Graduate Students

A postgraduate degree is probably one of the smartest investments you can make: A 2002 U.S. Census Bureau report found that adults with master’s degrees earn an average of $11,000 more a year that adults with bachelor’s degrees, and adults with professional degrees earn an average of $49,000 more a year (The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings).

But that advanced degree doesn’t come without a price tag.

Paying for graduate school can be more difficult than financing an undergraduate degree. Grad school tuition may be more expensive. Living expenses can be higher. Unanticipated expenses related to research might set you back. In fact, lack of adequate funding is one of the key reasons graduate students give for dropping out of school before completing their thesis and dissertation.

As a graduate student, you might think your financing options are more limited, or that it’s hard to find financial aid specifically for graduate school. But the fact is, there are many financial aid options to help you finance your graduate studies; you just need to know where to look.