Scholarships for graduate school are a form of financial aid that can help students to pay for higher education. While they are less common than scholarships for undergraduates, there are still plenty of graduate scholarships available for those who need them. Unlike loans, scholarships are sums of money that do not need to be repaid once the student has graduated (which is one of the reasons why they are highly sought after).
Scholarships For Graduate School For Every Student?
Scholarships for graduate school should be looked for by every student, regardless of whether they think they will qualify for them or not. There are thousands of scholarships from thousands of sponsors available, students won’t know until they look properly whether there is something out there that is suitable for them. Anybody that wants to further their education after they have successfully completed undergraduate study will greatly benefit from the use of graduate scholarships.
The med student / PhD path of study for grad students is challenging and may come with plenty of scholarships and grant money.
Graduate students that are pursuing areas like teaching or nursing will often need to look for scholarships and other financial help to finish graduate school. However, there are also scholarships and other non-repayable financial aid for graduates who want to pursue other career paths.
People tend to think of scholarships being reserved for those who have had a lot of academic achievement, but scholarships for graduate school are also available to those who wish to study particular fields, those who are members of groups which are underrepresented E.G. part of an ethnic minority, those who live in particular areas or those who just need financial help. Not all scholarships are awarded based on academic merit, which is good news for those who are considered average students. Scholarships range from the larger, competitive scholarships open to those who are high achievers to a variety of scholarships which are less competitive that are awarded based on other criteria E.G. gender, nationality, field of study.
A wide variety of people are eligible for scholarships for graduate school.
The eligibility requirements for graduate scholarships vary from location to location, organization to organization, as well as on a number of factors about the individual applying and the scholarship itself. Each scholarship is designed to help a particular type of person or a particular organization to get the future employment that they need. Some scholarships are aimed at helping international students, others are given to graduate students in exchange for project results and a lot require certain academic objectives to be met E.G. particular grade point average, in order for students to be eligible.
As an example, if a female student wanted to study a post-graduate course in Computer Science or a Math related subject, she could apply for the Graduate Women Scholarship Program offered by Microsoft Research. The eligibility requirements for this scholarship are different to those for a scholarship relating to economics, for example.
A lot of scholarships on offer to graduates are location/university specific E.G. Ontario Graduate scholarship. This scholarship has 2,000 awards which are given out to eligible students that are studying in a university in Ontario, Canada. In order to be eligible for the award, students must have achieved 80%+ or an average of A- over the preceding two years.
The requirements for obtaining scholarships for graduate school vary. If students are looking for financial aid and know where they want to do their post-graduate study, the easiest way to check eligibility requirements and scholarships on offer would be to contact the chosen place of study. Requirements are often things like the ability to maintain high grades, attend a certain number of hours or complete research in a particular field of study. Scholarships for graduate school are normally only awarded on a one year basis, if the academic year the scholarship is awarded for does not get fully completed the year then students won’t be eligible for the same financial aid the next year.
There are a number of ways that it is possible to locate and apply for scholarships for those who want to attend graduate school. There are multiple scholarship databases that individuals could search online E.G. the FastWeb Scholarship search. The FastWeb service matches the personal background of the searcher with scholarships that they are able to apply for. Only the awards which are relevant to the student will show up in the search results. This saves the amount of time that is spent trawling through lists where most of the information is irrelevant.
There are several other free databases online, but FastWeb is one of the largest, most frequently updated and the most accurate scholarship database currently available. There are details of over one and a half million scholarships, and FastWeb effectively does all the hard work by narrowing the list down to the ones that the student is only eligible to apply for. FastWeb even notifies students when new relevant scholarships become available so that they have the most chance of getting the financial aid that they need in order to continue studying. It is also possible do a search using other scholarship sites for relevant financial aid that could be applied for.
Alternatively, information about local scholarships for graduate school can be found in places like public bulletin boards at local libraries, at the current place of study E.G. outside student finance offices, or at nearby education institutions like universities and colleges. Before applying for post graduate school, students should read through the website of their chosen place of study as they will normally have a list of relevant scholarships mentioned somewhere on the site.
Many scholarships often receive lots of attention, so it should not be too hard to find scholarships for graduate study that students may qualify for. Aside from the usual linked organizations offering scholarships, students may also find that college alumni or private sponsors will offer them a scholarship if they can meet their requirements. It is worth contacting relevant organizations to see if they will sponsor graduate study.
If potential post-graduate students have already gone through the process of applying for scholarships for undergraduate study, they’ll find the process of applying for scholarships for graduate school is extremely similar. Scholarships for post-graduate study are normally obtained and maintained in the same fashion as undergraduate scholarships, so those who have already obtained scholarships before will know just how easy it is to find and qualify for relevant financial aid.
Now it’s time to find some Scholarships For Graduate School.
