How do people finance grad school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This can’t be said enough. If you can’t get the school to fund you in grad school, it’s not a good decision. Seriously, it’s like going to a fir profit college fir undergrad. Don’t do it.

This must only apply to certain areas though. Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This can’t be said enough. If you can’t get the school to fund you in grad school, it’s not a good decision. Seriously, it’s like going to a fir profit college fir undergrad. Don’t do it.

This must only apply to certain areas though. Which ones?

Did you not read the thread? It's not that long and that question was answered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This can’t be said enough. If you can’t get the school to fund you in grad school, it’s not a good decision. Seriously, it’s like going to a fir profit college fir undergrad. Don’t do it.

+1

Anyone paying full tuition to get a PhD should not be getting a PhD. For professional/terminal master's degrees, some people do them part-time, some employers will help pay for them, or you save up money/take out loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This can’t be said enough. If you can’t get the school to fund you in grad school, it’s not a good decision. Seriously, it’s like going to a fir profit college fir undergrad. Don’t do it.

Totally disagree.

If an undergrad degree does not get you the salary you want grad school can help you make that leap to another career. I would agree don't get a graduate degree in something that does not translate directly employment.

I would agree an MBA is not what I would suggest anyone do.

[Anonymous]

I have a professional degree that was funded (received a competitive assistantship from the School) and I'm so grateful. I graduated with only about $5,000 in loans which I paid off within a two months of starting my first job.

[Anonymous]

I got a grant that covered my first semester of grad school in full, took out a loan for the second semester, and by the next semester I had a full-time job on campus and paid for the bulk of my degree using tuition remission benefits. Graduated with just $4k in student loan debt which was easily paid off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents here. We told our kids we will pay for everything. college, grad school, med school, law school. We are not rich but we live frugally for our HHI and we can afford it somehow.

You are a great parent! Can you explain the “somehow”? What does your annual saving look like? Do you use 529s or something else?

I don't think it makes you a "great parent" to "live frugally" and pay for your kids' law school and med school. I think it's going overboard. But that's just me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This can’t be said enough. If you can’t get the school to fund you in grad school, it’s not a good decision. Seriously, it’s like going to a fir profit college fir undergrad. Don’t do it.

This is PP from directly above. I totally agree with this, except for professional programs (JD, MBA, MD). Those are essentially full pay for most with a few exceptions. We’re saving to fund a professional degree if that is their interest.

Agreed. If you want one of the above, you need to save for it or they need to be prepared to take out loans.

Agree with other PP that for other degrees, you should be able to get funding through assistantships or fellowships. I didn't pay for a single credit of tuition for my M.S. or Ph.D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former professional grad student here (engineering): Through teaching and research assistantships.

I noticed there might be a difference in MA vs. PHD in engineering, including CS. I know PHDs are funded. How does FA work for master's students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents here. We told our kids we will pay for everything. college, grad school, med school, law school. We are not rich but we live frugally for our HHI and we can afford it somehow.

You are a great parent! Can you explain the “somehow”? What does your annual saving look like? Do you use 529s or something else?

I don't think it makes you a "great parent" to "live frugally" and pay for your kids' law school and med school. I think it's going overboard. But that's just me.

I agree. I think it is a tremendous gift you can give a child if you can pay for their B.A./B.S. To come out of college with a clean slate, debt-wise, is wonderful.

If an adult child of yours wants to go to graduate school/law school/med school etc., they should figure that one out. By that point, they are fully adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents here. We told our kids we will pay for everything. college, grad school, med school, law school. We are not rich but we live frugally for our HHI and we can afford it somehow.

You are a great parent! Can you explain the “somehow”? What does your annual saving look like? Do you use 529s or something else?

I don't think it makes you a "great parent" to "live frugally" and pay for your kids' law school and med school. I think it's going overboard. But that's just me.

I think the future is very uncertain for our children. Many of the well-paying medical careers of today could be much less lucrative if progressive policies continue. I want to put my children in the very best possible position for financial freedom. If that means living in a $1.5M home, public school K-12 education and one vacation a year instead of a $2.5M home, private schools and three vacations a year, so be it.

[Anonymous]

I worked for 2 years after undergrad and saved some money. That savings, a partial scholarship, and some help from my parents paid for my master's in public policy.

[Anonymous]

I have two friends that worked for law schools (e.g., Georgetown) and received tuition remission. It took longer to finish law school--5 years vs 3 years--but they graduated with significantly less debt.

Another friend attended med school and had some funding (small scholarship/fellowship). They also had most of their loans forgiven through a state loan forgiveness program.

I was fully funded for my PhD program.

I now advise my undergrad students to find a job at a university with a grad program they are interested in, apply to programs that have assistantships, or consider programs that pay off loans after graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents here. We told our kids we will pay for everything. college, grad school, med school, law school. We are not rich but we live frugally for our HHI and we can afford it somehow.

You are a great parent! Can you explain the “somehow”? What does your annual saving look like? Do you use 529s or something else?

I don't think it makes you a "great parent" to "live frugally" and pay for your kids' law school and med school. I think it's going overboard. But that's just me.

I agree. I think it is a tremendous gift you can give a child if you can pay for their B.A./B.S. To come out of college with a clean slate, debt-wise, is wonderful.

If an adult child of yours wants to go to graduate school/law school/med school etc., they should figure that one out. By that point, they are fully adults.

That’s a totally valid set of values, especially if you cannot afford to save for +$90K for medical/law school.

Others (who can afford it) will value paying for post-undergrad education and help their children avoid starting their careers out with several hundred thousand in debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents here. We told our kids we will pay for everything. college, grad school, med school, law school. We are not rich but we live frugally for our HHI and we can afford it somehow.

You are a great parent! Can you explain the “somehow”? What does your annual saving look like? Do you use 529s or something else?

I don't think it makes you a "great parent" to "live frugally" and pay for your kids' law school and med school. I think it's going overboard. But that's just me.

I think the future is very uncertain for our children. Many of the well-paying medical careers of today could be much less lucrative if progressive policies continue. I want to put my children in the very best possible position for financial freedom. If that means living in a $1.5M home, public school K-12 education and one vacation a year instead of a $2.5M home, private schools and three vacations a year, so be it.

There are Youtube videos by med students who paid off $200,000-$400,000 loans in a matter of 2 or 3 years. Their salary out of school will be $250,000+. Think and live like a resident, living on less than $50,000 per year. Save the difference - approximately $200,000 (before tax). In 2 or 3 years, paying off med school loan is possible. For a large loan, $400,000, the student would have to go into a lucrative subfield, surgery, neurology, dermatology, etc. With an income of some $500,000 per year, living like a resident for the first few years, a $400,000 loan paid off in 2 years is doable.