You’re in luck if you’re looking to limit your student loan debt by getting free money for education. Of course, no funding is truly “free,” but with the scholarships and grants, you will receive money for an education that, unlike student loans, you usually won’t have to pay back.
There are plenty of scholarships and grants. According to the College Board, college students got a total of $135.6 billion in scholarship funding during the 2018-19 academic year. The key is to begin early and to explore all possibilities.
What is a Scholarship for Graduate Students?
Scholarships are grants of financial assistance targeted at helping students pay for a master’s program. A scholarship is sometimes a one-time check. Per semester or school year, other school scholarships are permanent and provide students with funds. Except that they don’t have to be returned, these awards vary from student loans.
How can the Graduate Scholarship money be spent?
You can spend on everything with scholarship checks awarded on your behalf, but you would be smart to look at this as an investment and not a free pass to splurge on video games or concert tickets. This money is for spending at school. This could mean tuition, but it could also be books, pencils, accommodation, food, or even computers and software (you can’t study on an empty stomach).
The funding you earn from the award depends on the scholarship you have received. Often, before school starts, you get the money in one chunk, and in most situations, the money is given in installments. A scholarship may also be taken out in the midst of a semester.
What is a Grant for Graduate Students?
Grants are a form of financial assistance that does not have to be returned and, depending on their financial need, are often offered to students. In certain situations, when granting these grants, the agency offering the grant might also weigh other considerations, such as academic success.
What is the Application Process for Grants for Graduate Students?
The grant application process is equivalent to that of scholarships. In some cases, applicants will be considered by filling out a Free Application for Federal Financial Assistance, as with some government awards. In other situations, students are expected to fill out a different application to obtain a grant and will be required to provide a document about their academic accomplishments and priorities in addition to being requested for financial details.
Who is Eligible to Receive a Grant in Grad School?
Generally, in order to be able to accept a grant, applicants must be accepted at an accredited college or university. There might also be other qualifying criteria, such as minimum grade point average, degree program type, and thesis targets, depending on the award.
The Difference among Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships in Masters Program
Graduate school scholarships by unions, corporations, governments, and more are available. They can be merit-based or need-based, but you must qualify for them.
Graduate school grants are like scholarships in that you don’t have to repay them. You will have to pay part or more of the grant if you withdraw from school or otherwise fail to retain eligibility for the grant, so know the rules of the particular grant. While scholarships are mostly dependent on merit, grants are need-based and will apply to the potential profession.
Graduate student fellowships usually refer to a short-term ability to study or perform research in a particular area. Awarded for academic achievement, this can provide an internship or other contribution to service and can pay or offer a stipend for living expenses. In certain graduate areas, fellowship programs can be found.
Tips to Earning Scholarships for Masters Program
When filling out a scholarship application, it is truly important to put the best foot forward. Be sure to read about what each application process entails first.
- Apply for as many grad school scholarships
As long as you pass, you could apply for several graduate student scholarships. This could make the odds of winning an award higher. In order to register, search your high school, college, and local groups.
- Check the deadline for applications
There are restricted funds for certain scholarship opportunities. So the faster you submit, the higher the odds might be.
- Make sure your transcripts and test scores are available.
Not all programs for college scholarships look at your GPA. But many do request high school transcripts and your undergraduate degree. If you have lost originals, collect copies or reach out to schools in advance. You would need to supply GRE, LSAT, MCAT, or GMAT scores.
- Ask for a recommendation
The letters that are most helpful come from people who respect you and what you are capable of. An instructor, research tutor, advisor, or boss, for example.
- Write a powerful personal declaration or essay
This is an opportunity to talk frankly about your values and what inspires you. However, you will have to respond to prompted questions and adhere to a word count. So, make sure to check for pronunciation and follow instructions.
- Don’t get yourself locked in.
Remember the qualifications you used as an undergraduate, along with field-specific scholarships. Broaden your quest and look for scholarships that are focused on your area, ethnicity, interest, religious affiliation, or hobbies.
- Making a budget for a scholarship.
It may be free to look for graduate scholarships, but certain records you need for your application may come at a fee, such as transcripts. When paying for these papers, make sure to keep your budget in mind.
How to Find Scholarships for Masters Program?
Here are the top resources for finding grants and scholarships for graduate students.
- Fastweb
Fastweb is one of the biggest databases of college advice and financial assistance online. You will use the website to check for over 1.5 million scholarships, worth over $3.4 billion in value, according to the organization.
You must build a Fastweb account to find grad school scholarships that complement your talents and interests. You will then be asked by the platform to submit information such as your GPA, major, and hobbies. To find scholarships that fit your profile, Fastweb
uses that detail.
- Sallie Mae’s Graduate School Scholarship Search
The Sallie Mae student loan corporation has its own tool that lets you locate grants and scholarships from graduate schools. There are over 950,000 graduate scholarships in Sallie Mae’s index, worth up to $1 billion in value.
Build your profile after you register for a free account by entering information such as your area of research, preferences, and skills. When new scholarships become eligible, you can also set up reminders or search by field, country, demographic, and school.
- Scholarship America
Scholarship America reports that it recognizes that, regardless of their financial status, any student needs a college education. The company provides students with the tools and documentation they need to go to school without ending up in substantial debt.
To date, over $4.2 billion in grants have been awarded by Scholarship America to more than 2.5 million college and graduate school students. The company has hundreds of scholarship opportunities available, including several exclusively for graduate students.
Although smaller graduate school scholarships are provided by other organizations, Scholarship America presents significant awards. A total of more than $24,000 has been raised from former winners of the organization’s Dream Prize.
- GoGrad
By offering tips and advice on how to pay for school, including government funding for graduate school and grad school scholarships, GoGrad supports graduate students.
GoGrad also lists several niche scholarships, including women’s and veterans’ choices. The website explicitly illustrates how much what grant is worth, what the sponsoring corporation is, and what the deadline to submit is. For each submission, it often lists the criteria, such as submitting an essay or intending to study in a certain area.
- Unigo
Unigo is a forum for seniors and current college or doctoral students in high school. It also provides a searchable directory of graduate school scholarship offers, in addition to offering tools to help you determine which school is right for you and how to make the most of your degree. To be informed of the new scholarships, you can sign up for a free account.
The business also awards scholarships of its own. You could earn up to $10,000 by applying for awards from Unigo. Unigo has awarded almost $500,000 in scholarships to date.
Unigo also has quirky ones, in addition to the regular scholarships for outstanding candidates. The organization, for example, offers the person who can come up with the best escape strategy for if zombies were to invade your school a $2,000 Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship.
- Scholly
Scholly is a smartphone app that makes it easy to search for scholarships for grad schools. Hundreds of thousands of students have used the software to discover over $70 million in scholarship rewards, according to Scholly. You can’t (yet) apply for Scholly grants, but the app can help you find the cash you would have lost otherwise.
You can find scholarships that are a good choice after you build an account on Scholly, which is accessible for iOS and Android devices and online. You can sort outcomes by grade level or major, making it easier to locate scholarships at graduate level. The program also allows you to keep track of deadlines and prioritize which grants to apply for.
- Big Future
The College Board, a non-profit association that helps students plan for a smooth transition to college through its own initiatives and the wider education environment by its support for teachers, students, and colleges, is a database created by Big Future.
While there are no scholarship options exclusively for graduate students, to find general funding opportunities, you can check under the “non-degree” option in the index. Listings may include the sponsor of the scholarship, the form of prize, the minimum or maximum value of the scholarship, and the date for applicants.
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