How to Pay for Graduate School: A Funding Strategy Beyond Loans
When most people start thinking about how to pay for graduate school, their mind goes straight to loans.
(Cue the brain spirals.)
Maybe you have even been told graduate school is not worth pursuing unless it is free. That is what I heard before applying for my own master's, and it does not work that way for the majority of programs.
Here is the truth: there are a lot of options beyond loans.
After more than a decade on the other side of the desk reading thousands of applications, I can tell you something most applicants never hear: The order in which you use different types of funding can change what you qualify for through the university.
That one surprises almost everyone.
Below are three action steps to build a funding strategy for your next degree, plus a list of lesser-known resources to explore along the way.
Action Step 1: Look more broadly for funding opportunities (they exist)
You may have seen headlines about Grad PLUS loans being eliminated, or about the new borrowing caps on Direct Unsubsidized loans that vary by program, with most master's students topping out at $100,000 total.
What that means for you: get creative instead of relying solely on federal loans.
Before you go any further, one free step first.
Fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
Yes, for graduate school. Even if you have no intention of taking out loans. Some grants and funding opportunities require it to confirm eligibility, and it is free to file.
Then use the list below as you build your personal funding strategy.
(These will not all apply to you. The goal is to find the one or two you did not know about.)
Employer benefits: Employee scholarships, tuition assistance, tuition exchange, tuition reimbursement, tuition remission, employer sponsorship, and student-loan repayment. I wrote about several of these here.
External: Fellowships, grants, and scholarships.
Loans: Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans, private student loans, and institutional loans.
Service-based: AmeriCorps and Teach for America (Segal Education Awards, and check out Schools of National Service for application fee waivers and tuition discounts), Peace Corps (Coverdell Fellows), and military and veterans benefits (GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon).
University: Assistantships, fellowships, grants, scholarships, and work study.
The long game: Loan forgiveness and repayment programs (National Health Service Corps, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Teacher Loan Forgiveness), 529 plans, and personal or family savings.
Scholarships deserve their own mention.
They are one of the most well-known options, available from a variety of local and national sources, and some only open up once you are already a student.
(One of my early clients received a surprise research scholarship to finish a final project in her master’s program.)
To make sense of what you qualify for and where to look, this breakdown will help:
Action Step 2: Talk to a financial aid counselor early
Here is a free resource most people underuse: the financial aid advisors and counselors at the university, or within the specific school you are applying to, like the School of Public Policy.
Their entire job is to know how funding works.
That includes the pools of money that never make it onto the website, like departmental grants, one-off scholarships, and emergency funds.
When I worked at a university, I would occasionally get emails asking for names of students who met specific qualifications to receive scholarships that were never posted anywhere.
It felt like handing someone a winning lottery ticket. Those students had no idea the money existed. Someone on the inside simply knew to look for them.
A lot of financial aid also runs on earlier deadlines than you would expect, and some of it is first-come, first-served. Getting on an advisor's radar early makes you top-of-mind when new opportunities open.
Go in with real questions:
What aid exists beyond what is posted?
What are the actual deadlines?
And how would an outside scholarship affect the rest of my funding package?
Being proactive can open the door to far more money than you expected.
Action Step 3: Use your funding in the order that maximizes its value
Once you are enrolled, and after talking with a financial aid counselor for guidance, lay out every option you have and be strategic about which ones you use first and which you save for later in your program.
What does that actually look like?
Example 1: Have a large external scholarship? Wonderful. But find out whether using it first will affect your eligibility for need-based aid or scholarship offers through the university. (This happened to a client last month. Fortunately, they caught it in time.)
Example 2: For AmeriCorps alumni using Segal Education Awards, splitting the awards across multiple calendar years can lower the tax hit when you use them.
Example 3: For anyone using employer tuition assistance, only the first $5,250 is tax-free each calendar year (a figure set to adjust for inflation in 2027). If your employer covers more than that, splitting the payments across two calendar years keeps more of it out of your taxable income.
Take a deep breath.
You are not required to become a tax expert to go to graduate school.
And truthfully, I did not know about 85% of these funding options when I applied for my own master's program.
As a first-generation college student, I have lived and learned through the mantra "you don't know what you don't know." My goal now is to hand you the map to graduate school I wish I had.
Approaching your funding strategy with the same care as your application materials will benefit your finances well past graduation.
Good luck, you can do this!
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