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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Use These 5 Strategies to Pay for Graduate School


Almost 60 percent of employers strait slightly form of cultivation helper for ammonia alum assimilators, one mess reports.

Five years ago, when he was sentiment about pursuing a Ph.D., Damien Frierson knew what he wanted to teaching—social work—and where he wanted to study it—Howard University in Washington, D.C.—but not where he would get the money. He'd already lay in just about debt from earning a bachelor's and two master's degrees and didn't want more, and faced adult up the $72,000 he earned annually.

 

He applied anyway, and discovered something ein truth(prenominal) prospective grad student should know: By applying very early (about three months before the deadline) he lay himself on the radar of the social work school day, which contacted him about applying separately for a generous fellowship. For three years, the deed over covered the full monetary value of Frierson's tuition and provided a biweekly stipend totaling $18,000 annually in exchange for 15 hours per week of research, teaching, or other work.

[Explore the U.S. News dress hat Graduate Schools rankings.]

Frierson expects to grade in 2014, and is covering the rest of the pad of paper with his earnings as an assistant director of a municipal violence program in Philadelphia. "You really need to put funding somewhere at the forefront," he says.

To do so, remove these smart strategies.

1. Get your boss to profit: Many companies tone to boost their collective skill set without hiring will support all or part of an employee's graduate schooling with and through tuition reimbursement. Last year, 58 percent of the 550 employers responding to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management leaveed some form of monetary tending for grad school.

Most firms require that the coursework use up some connection to the employee's job role—tax courses for an accountant, say, or computer science training for someone working in IT. And some companies require that the employee work at the firm for a certain period after school or pay back part of the tuition. Up to $5,250 of such tuition assistance qualifies as a tax-free benefit.

Absent a formal tuition remission program, workers can often earn assistance if they stage to the boss how a course of study could add value, says pecker Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. And many universities offer reimbursement programs for their own qualifying workers.

[Get tips on persuading your boss to pay for grad school.]

2. Secure a scholarship: Graduate programs typically award scholarships and fellowships based on merit. "It's going to vary from school to school and where that particular student sits in that applicant pool," says Joseph Russo, director of student financial strategies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

At many schools, forethought is given out by academic departments or the specific graduate school instead of a central financial aid office, so you may have to do some digging. A graduate admissions official or someone consort with your desired program can help you sort through the options. Experts advise applying for funds as early as realistic to ensure access to the full pot.

[Learn more about scholarships for graduate school studies.]

A range of private and public organizations also offer money for graduate school, though these fellowships are typically extremely competitive. The Truman Scholarship Foundation, for instance, annually awards up to $30,000 to each of about 60 prospective grad students looking at public service fields. Both Cornell University and the University of California—Los Angeles provide comprehensive online databases of awards across a range of fields.



Materials taken from US News

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