Money for grad school?

[FrugalTexan75]

I was reading one of the many free magazines the gym gets today, and noticed a blurb saying to check on Peterson's about scholarship money available for graduate students.

This surprised me, because I'd gotten the impression that the only money available for grad students were essentially PLUS loans.

So, I'm wondering if I'm missing out on other resources?

[Runaway Finances]

The first place I would start with is the financial aid office at your school. They would surely be aware of scholarship opportunities. I just googled "graduate school scholarships and grants texas" and several things came up. I'm assuming you already did this search, but if not....

I've heard the economy has dried up some of the scholarship money, but before this economic mess there were tons of scholarship money available. It takes tons of work to apply for them, but they were out there.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Are there assistantships and such in your field--Teaching, researching, maybe grading and such for stipend? Do you read publications of the profession and its honor societies to see if they sponsor students?

Here's a funny/maybe not-so funny for ya:

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd030909s.gif

[Cassandra]

What my advisor has told me about scholarships for grad school is that it depends on your field. Some areas, like the sciences, have a lot of outside scholarships available for grad students. Other areas not so much. Definitely hit up the school's financial aid office- they know where you can go to find scholarships for your field of study.

[akrogers]

I'd be interested to hear what you find. I am having an awful time trying to find scholarships and grants for graduate school. I have literally read every listing on the government's grant site and I don't meet the qualifications for any because they are either out of my field or I don't meet the "diversity requirements." My school does offer one merit scholarship, so that's my only hope as of right now :-/

[Cassandra]

Have you looked at websites like fastweb.com? It is a website that lists a bunch of scholarships. Usually the scholarships are for undergrad, but occasionally you will find some for graduate school.

[FrugalTexan75]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I found a book at my library "Cash For Grad School" which I put on hold. 99% of what I'm finding is for undergraduate, or school-specific, so far. The college I'm going to (Library of Sciences) has one scholarship available of $50 - 250. It asks for my current grad school gpa, so I'll have to wait till I get my first class under my belt to apply for that.

[Runaway Finances]

Look to see if your city has a "Community Foundation". These are funded by citizens that set up endowments or funds to benefit something they are passionate about. Many of them are scholarship funds. Some of them are flexible and are called "donor advised" funds. They may have the lattitude to give scholarships for grad school. They typically have "grant cycles" so call them and ask some questions.

[lehresman]

I got my masters in computer science, and I was always under the impression that you had to pay a lot for grad school. It may be different with other departments, but I managed to get through without paying a dime. I worked 20 hours a week as a TA, and the school covered my tuition and gave me a living stipend of $1000/month. That got me through 2.5 years of grad school with no loans. You might consider checking into something like that.

[am_vanquish]

Based on the OP's responses, I'm not sure if this will apply to your situation or not, but consider being a Resident Hall adviser. Free housing plus a stipend, and it looks great on a resume.