By Nancy Keteku, EducationUSA Regional Educational Advising Coordinator for Africa West & Central
Graduate study-the pursuit of a master’s or doctoral degree- in the United States offers you much more than expertise in a particular field of study. The U.S. graduate education system allows you to tailor programs to your individual goals, and gives you the opportunity to build lifelong professional networks through conference attendance and cooperative projects. U.S. educations not only emphasize practical experience and applications of your field of study, but also foster the development of leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills to help you adapt to varied working conditions throughout your career. As you investigate graduate education, keep the following funding tips in mind.
- Funding for graduate school is competitive. The key to being awarded funding is to distinguish yourself from the competition by thoroughly researching each department’s program and building a compelling application that demonstrates your potential as a scholar.
- Financial aid for graduate studies is based on academic merit. Admissions committees seek applicants who attract attention because of their strong academic performance, well-written essays, recommendations, and research or teaching experience. If your qualifications are not yet fully developed, consider taking additional time to strengthen yourself before applying.
- According to IIE’s Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, 44 percent of international graduate students were financed by their U.S. universities, while 48 percent relied primarily on personal and family funds in 2009-10.
- Availability of funding varies by field: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (known as the STEM fields) have the most funding, followed by the social sciences and the humanities. Professional fields such as business, health, law, and education have comparatively less funding available, and many students take out loans to finance their education.
- More funding is available for Ph.D. programs than for master’s programs. If you are interested in eventually pursuing a doctorate, state this on your application, as it will increase your chances of getting funding.
- Graduate school funding comes primarily through teaching and research assistantship. Universities with strong research and doctoral programs are able to attract research funds to finance more graduate students. Last year $55 billion was spent on university research in the United States. Identify the departments that have the most research funds and the greatest number of assistantships, and apply to them.
- Teaching assistantship (TA) positions are found at large institutions with a high number of undergraduate classes in science, math, English, economics, psychology, or languages. International students with particular language skills may be able to get language teaching positions even if they are studying in a different department.
- Some public (state) universities offer out-of-state tuition waivers to graduate students, thus considerably reducing the cost of attendance.
- Some departments will expect graduate students to bear the costs of the first year, so that the professors can observe their performance and evaluate their suitability for TAs and RAs in the second year.
- Graduate departments are small, and the work in intense. Therefore, admissions committees pay close attention to applicants’ personal qualities in addition to their academic potential. Your graduate admissions essays should illustrate your personal strengths, such as leadership, originality, motivational commitment, self-discipline, work habits, adaptability, and team work. At the same time, they evaluate specific skills, especially writing, research, teaching, computer use and the use of English in academic settings; you can greatly strengthen your chances of admission with funding by composing essays that thoroughly demonstrate your academic interests, experience, and abilities.