Educate me on fully funded graduate degrees

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by rebel100, Jan 27, 2016.

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  1. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    Number one daughter is about to graduate with her bachelors and she is seeking options.

    Work is most likely (at least in my mind) but we have also discussed Masters programs and even PhD programs. Caveat is that she has no debt currently and we don't want to see any...so what programs out there provide full funding in exchange for her working at the school? Can be residence or DL so long as there is a proviso fro having most/all the cost covered. Harvard Extension is her back up plan (if we can't find the right school and if she doesn't enter the labor force directly). She is thinking MFA or MA in Writing.

    A little about her: English concentration at HES, expects to graduate "with honors" and on the Dean's list. One local internship in Marketing under her belt. She is in her early 20's.

    Two programs she is looking at are the MFA from University of Florida (in residence) Department of English | Graduate Programs - MFA in Fiction & Poetry And her pie in the sky choice is the MSt from Oxford, has several residencies over 2 years of varying length (which would only be possible if she works and attends part time or wins one of their highly competitive scholarships Scholarship value and duration | Clarendon Scholarships | University of Oxford ) yes, to do this, lightning would have to strike twice, realize this ones a huge reach. She is technically almost done, but could extend her time at HES to pick up a couple of extra courses to make her a better candidate.

    We have also looked at local colleges and back ups to the back ups include things like the WNMU MAIS...but that isn't really the focus of our thoughts right now.

    The work vs school thing isn't really what I'm seeking comment on...that would deserve its own thread!

    So what else is out there? There is a lot we don't understand, so looking for an education here. :)
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 27, 2016
  3. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Since she's looking at full time residential rather than part time or online, I'd think that asking them about assistantships would be part of the application process at any school that might interest her.
     
  4. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Fully funded graduate studies are harder to get in Humanities, but I believe are still fairly common on the Doctoral level. They are found among major universities, for full-time residential study, and often involve assistantships (part-time work that allows one to support oneself on roughly poverty level). They are more common still in STEM; I graduated from one.

    Programs you listed seem to be professional Masters degrees. These are seldom funded, especially if DL. I know very little about MFAs; whether these can be funded depends, in all likelihood, on a school and program.

    I've seen warnings against doing a Humanities MA or PhD UNLESS it's fully funded. Reasoning is like this: best programs offer full funding to qualified students; the job market is so competitive that it's hard to get a job unless you are very good AND come from a good program; therefore paying for your studies strongly correlates with ending up in debt, underemployed and miserable. Of course, this logic doesn't work for affordable, part-time things like WNMU MAIS.
     

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