College is very expensive, but so is graduate school. Graduate programs can often equal or exceed the cost of undergraduate education, and have very different mechanics to pay for it. This can leave students eagerly searching for sources of funding.
In this article, therefore, we’re going to examine some of the best scholarships available to graduate students, namely the Fulbright, Rhodes, and Truman scholarships. We’ll also briefly discuss how paying for graduate school usually works, as this varies a lot by field and discipline. Let’s get started!
How do you Pay for Graduate School?
There is no universal way to pay for graduate school, but generally programs fall into one of three categories for funding. Institutional positions, loans, and grants. We’ll cover each in turn.
Institutional Positions
This is the most common way PhD students pay for graduate school. Graduate scholars are simultaneously students and employees of a university, teaching undergraduates and doing research under the guidance of professors. Indeed, professors and research labs have explicit funding to bring on graduate students in their contracts. This is generally only available for PhD students, but some master’s programs operate in this way as well. Note that not all PhD students receive this funding.
Debt
Some graduate schools expect you to pay for the program out of pocket, or through significant debt. This is the case with most master’s programs (especially MBAs), law school, and medical school. While there are outside scholarships which can help with these costs, there is an expectation at most of these programs that students will pay the full costs themselves, often by taking on debt.
Grants
A very small number of graduate programs have grant funding. These programs offer free tuition to most or all students, funded by the institution’s endowment. Recently, for example, the Einstein College of Medicine announced they were going tuition free after a $1 billion donation. These programs are the exception, rather than the norm, and the appeal of free tuition often makes them among the most competitive available.
Now that we’ve covered how graduate school is traditionally funded, let’s examine some of the scholarship options available, and see what programs they can pay for.
Fulbright Scholarships
Founded in 1946, the Fulbright Scholarships are a prestigious cultural exchange program meant to increase cultural understanding and fluency. The program itself has two separate scholarships available to students:
- The international scholarship provides funding for international students to come and study or conduct research in the US, at a PhD or Masters program.
- The US Student Program provides a year’s worth of funding for US students to study abroad; either teaching English, studying, or conducting research.
There are further awards available for postdoctoral students, professors, and researchers to study abroad as well. The application for these awards opens every spring, and comes due in September. These are incredibly competitive. Note that there are many many subsidiary awards in the US Scholars Program, each with different funding and international connections, you must find and apply to the one which best suits your needs and interests. These are only available to advanced scholars.
Recent undergraduates may apply to the US Student Program online. This is a very competitive process, with the application opening in spring, and coming due in October. You must either be a current undergraduate or PhD student, or find an advisor to work with at a sponsoring institution to apply. Fulbright scholarships cannot pay for graduate school directly, but can instead fund research projects abroad as part of your studies.
Rhodes Scholarships
Established in 1902, these are the oldest dedicated postgraduate scholarships in the world. They are offered to international students to complete graduate studies at Oxford specifically. The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition, and provides a stipend which may be spent on housing and cost of living expenses.
The scholarship looks for the following in applicants:
- Academic excellence. You don’t need to be a genius, but you do need to have shown passion and skill for your academic pursuits.
- Mastery in a field outside of academia; sports, dance, music, the arts, or others where teamwork is very important.
- A strong moral character, with a devotion to truth, duty, kindness, and sympathy.
- Leadership instincts and the ability to care for your fellows.
Applications are handled by country, and your eligibility criteria are determined by your country of residence. For the US these are:
- You must be a US citizen or permanent resident. If you are not a citizen, you must meet the criteria of your country of citizenship.
- You must be between 18 and 23; older candidates are allowed if they completed their first undergraduate degree within the past year.
- You must have completed an undergraduate degree by the time you begin the program, and must have a GPA of at least 3.7 out of 4.
Applications are very very competitive, with only a certain number of students admitted per country. In 2020, for example, the scholarship had a 1.4% acceptance rate for US students. Scholarships are for two years of study, the equivalent of a master’s program or a second undergraduate degree. The scholarship attempts to admit scholars from a broad range of disciplines.
Truman Scholarship
Unlike the other two scholarships mentioned here, Truman scholarships are administered and awarded by the US Government. It was created by Congress in 1975, in memory of its namesake president. The scholarship is meant to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in public service.
The awards process is very competitive. Each college may nominate up to four students each year to apply for the award. Students apply during their junior year. Around 800 students submit an application each year, with 55-65 awards granted annually. This is an average acceptance rate of 7.5%.
The scholarship has the following eligibility requirements:
- You must be a US Citizen, or a US resident of American Samoa.
- Currently enrolled at a US based accredited college.
- In their penultimate year of school if at a four year institution, or their third year if graduating within three years.
- Nominated by your school. Schools are limited to four nominees.
- You must be planning on attending graduate school in pursuit of a career in public service. You may take time off between undergrad and graduate school.
You may be any age, currently studying any major, be applying to any kind of graduate program that isn’t an MBA, and may apply to either domestic or international graduate programs.
Each campus has their own process for choosing nominees. If you are interested in this scholarship, you should identify an advisor on your campus early, to learn any requirements they have. They have an online portal for submitting their application, you can only gain access to this through your institution after being nominated.
Final Thoughts
This is far from a comprehensive list of scholarships available to graduate students, but these are three of the most well known and prestigious available. We hope that this article has given you a deeper insight into how you can go about paying for graduate school, and the financing options available to you. Graduate school is incredibly expensive, but there are sources for funding out there.
Of course, all of these are incredibly competitive to apply to, not to mention the competition for applying to graduate programs themselves. We have guides to applying to PhD, law, and medical programs, each of which break down the exact steps you need to take when applying to graduate education. If you want more personalized advice, or help when applying, schedule a free consultation today. We have a long history of helping students of all educational levels, and are always happy to hear from you.
