Graduate School Guide

How to pay for graduate school is the major question for most people. There are three basic ways to finance your graduate education, depending upon the kind of program in which you are interested: fellowships and traineeships, teaching and research assistantships, and loans. Even those who are able to finance their graduate education “out of their own pockets” should understand the other options, as, in case of traineeships and teaching assistantships, they often involve the acquisition of skills and knowledge critical to a successful graduate school career.

Fellowships or traineeships for graduate study are grants that are generally awarded on the basis of academic merit. They are intended to attract the most highly qualified students to graduate programs. They can be either portable, that is, offered by an organization or agency for study at an institution of the student’s choice, or institutional, that is offered by a university or department for study only there.

Fellowships generally provide payment of tuition and a stipend for living expenses. Institutional fellowships are awarded either by departments or by a central fellowship office in an institution. Most are based solely on academic merit, although there may be some institutional awards that are intended for certain people, like children of veterans or people in a certain field of study. Even restricted fellowships generally involve some academic merit. Institutions that are actively recruiting students from populations underrepresented in their student body may have special fellowship programs to attract them.

Some institutions guarantee a certain number of years of financial support for the most promising graduate students. Others will not guarantee support but may give reasonable assurance that teaching or research appointments will be available throughout the student’s time in graduate school.

Some of the major portable fellowship programs are listed at the end of Graduate School and You. Since these awards attract applicants across the country, they are highly competitive.

Teaching assistantships usually involve leading a discussion section, supervising a laboratory, grading papers, and meeting with students. The typical appointment involves working approximately 20 hours a week. A teaching assistant helps an institution teach its undergraduate students in return for a salary (and sometimes fee or tuition remission) that helps support his/her own graduate studies:

Research assistants are found especially in science and engineering fields. They are engaged in laboratories to assist faculty in research projects. Advanced students working on their theses or dissertations are often being supported by stipends to do their own individual projects. Many institutions also waive or reduce tuition for teaching and research assistants.

Although fellowships, traineeships, and teaching and research assistantships may be available for master’s degree students, they are generally limited at that level. They are more likely to be reserved for doctoral students, who require more time to complete their degree programs. These types of funding opportunities are more than employment; they are valuable ways to build skills and develop experience in your field, which will improve your knowledge and enhance your stature.

While not directly related to an academic program, there are other positions, like residence hall counselor or resident advisor, that provide reduced tuition or room and board and sometimes offer a stipend. These jobs provide valuable transferable skills, and they may help you fund your advanced degree. The department or the graduate school office that admits you should have information about this kind of employment.

Grants and loans are an important source of support for graduate students. This aid may come from the institution, a state, the federal government, or sometimes your employer.

The federal government has a substantial interest in and commitment to federal student aid programs. Each year Members of Congress and the Administration labor to fund the various programs adequately. Since there is a limited amount of money appropriated for each program, many are need-based.

Need-based aid requires that applicants be certified by their academic institutions as having income and asset levels that fall within certain limitations. Current federal regulations make virtually all graduate students independent of parental support unless they are claimed as dependents on their parents’ federal income tax return. For independent graduate students, parental income is not considered in determining need and eligibility for federal financial aid programs. For people who have been working, salary in the year before they enter graduate school is the basis for determining need. A percentage of that salary has to be considered as an asset available to the student to pay for graduate school expenses.

The Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education provides descriptions of the types of programs that are offered for graduate and professional students through its web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/Students/students.html. Or you may call the Federal Student Aid Information Center toll free at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) to obtain copies of information that you need.

A basic resource about financial aid is the Department of Education publication, The Student Guide. This free booklet offers general information on student eligibility, financial need, dependency status, and how to apply. In addition, all of the following aid programs are described:

Most graduate and professional students receive some kind of aid. For instance, in 1995-96 slightly more than 50% of all graduate and first-professional degree students received some type of aid, and the average amount received was $9,814. The breakdown by type of degree tells more of the story:

Degree	% of students receiving aid	Average Amount Received
Master’s	51	$7,825
Doctorate	65	$11,431
First Professional	80	$17,357

Although federal loans are subsidized and carry lower interest rates than conventional bank loans, they are still debt. However, people often borrow money to invest in order to make money. The debt you accrue in acquiring a graduate degree can be considered an investment in your future earning power.

The major investments that you make in a graduate degree are time and the income you may forego by being in school full time, if that is the course you choose. The ultimate reward is the satisfaction of doing what you like to do, having a great deal of freedom, and getting paid for it.

You need to do your research carefully to choose the school that will best suit your needs and talents. There are more than 1,800 institutions in the United States that offer graduate degrees; the variety is enormous. Many are highly specialized and offer only one kind of degree. Some may offer one or two professional master’s degrees, often in education or business administration. Some institutions offer master’s degrees only, while others offer doctorates in selected fields. Major research universities offer master’s degree and doctorates in a wide range of fields.

There are many general guides to graduate programs, and a few are listed at the end of Graduate School and You. Most college and university libraries and career centers and many public libraries will have at least some of these publications. College libraries, counseling or career centers, and admissions offices generally maintain collections of college and university catalogs. Web sites are also easily accessible for most institutions.

You will probably have certain personal preferences regarding the kind of institution you attend. Size and location are two factors that often influence a person’s decision about where to go to school. There are advantages to both large and small institutions. Location is important if you believe you cannot make a major move because of personal or family concerns.

The most important factor should be how well the graduate program of an institution fits your particular interests, academic background, and goals. Although a university may offer a doctorate in your field, it may not have a program in the branch of that field that interests you. For example, some psychology departments specialize in clinical psychology and offer only a few courses in behavioral psychology; in others, behavioral psychology courses predominate. General guides like those listed at the end of Graduate School and You will tell you where programs are, and university catalogs will tell you about the emphasis in various departments.

One way to do research on graduate programs is to talk to faculty members at your own undergraduate school about where they did their graduate work and what they know about graduate programs in their fields. Most faculty members enjoy the chance to talk with their students about their plans for graduate study. It is highly likely that they can recommend faculty at other institutions with whom you should study as well as recommend programs that might suit you. Getting to know your faculty members in this way not only provides you with valuable information about grad schools, but it also helps the faculty members to know you better. This will give them context as they write letters of recommendation for you.

As you narrow your interests in a graduate program, it is important to determine what various programs’ prerequisites are. For a professional degree, work experience or overall academic preparation is often as important as specific coursework. For a research degree, however, there almost always are areas of subject matter and certain skills that you must have mastered at the undergraduate level. Particularly in the sciences, the prerequisites may be very specific.

Another important factor to determine is the selectivity of the program to which you want to apply. How many people apply to a given department or program, and how many people are accepted? As the number of applicants grows in comparison with the number of “seats” open in the entering class, the selection rigor increases. It is often the case that the higher the selection rigor, the more likely it is that only the applications of the most highly qualified will be accepted. In considering the implications of this information, you must be very honest with yourself concerning your own academic background and intellectual potential.

Your background is, of course, a function of the kind of institution from which you received your baccalaureate degree and your own academic success there. If your institution did not offer the range of courses as prerequisites for a very demanding graduate program, your preparation for grad school may not be up to the level of other applicants. Assess your preparation and your intellectual potential candidly to determine not only how well you can compete in a rigorous application process, but also how well you might perform after you enter a highly competitive graduate program. In the long run, your comfort with you graduate program will have a great effect on your satisfaction and performance.

Finally, keep in mind that, unlike applying to an institution for an undergraduate degree, for a graduate degree you are applying for admission to a department or specific program. Your application is evaluated and you will be recommended for admission by the department and its faculty members rather than a central admissions office. You should be more than casually familiar with the department to which you are applying. Spend time learning about the reputation of the department and its faculty. Evaluate their credentials. Determine how often courses listed in the course bulletin are taught and by whom. Ask questions of students currently in the program. Be critical about issues like faculty turnover, accreditation, and the reputation of the department and is faculty.

Graduate schools are interested in recruiting qualified applicants for their programs. To assist in the process and help students locate programs that meet their needs, the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board has developed the GRE Search Service, which is offered at no charge to prospective graduate students. Registration for it does not require registration for GRE tests. One benefit of registering for a search service is that you may hear from institutions you may not have otherwise considered, thus giving you more information about options for your graduate education.

For more information, consult the GRE Information Bulletin, which is available in college counseling centers or by writing to the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey 08541, or go to the web site at http://www.gre.org.