Options For Masters Degree Funding

The educational and professional world today demands more than a graduate degree, and there has been a significant increase in student debt departments that has been quite debated. Students across the world face a major crunch when it comes to the cost of earning a master’s degree. But to ease and encourage higher education, many institutes provide various funds and waivers for students to avail of. There are plenty of options for a student to choose from depending on their requirement and suitability. Let’s discuss 5 major ways students can use master’s degree funding abroad.

How to Get Full Funding for Masters?

Popularly students choose to apply for Fellowships or Merit-Based Scholarships.

These scholarships and fellowships are awarded depending on factors like academic excellence, skills, achievements, and work experience. This is one of the most famous and widely known ways to get your higher education funded. Large corporations, universities, and government organizations support funding for the master’s degree. Depending on the eligibility criteria and conditions, students can apply for these scholarships and fulfil their dream and career aspirations. The following are a few of the best colleges that offer a wide range of scholarships and waivers for students who wish to receive a master’s degree funding:

• University Of Oxford
• University of Bologna
• University of Bristol
• Utrecht University
• Uppsala University
• Columbia University
• Harvard University
• Stanford University
• Duke University

Need-Based Scholarships for Masters Degree Funding

As the name indicates, these scholarships are provided based on your requirements and needs. Sometimes the ‘need-based’ criteria might be a subcategory of the merit-based scholarship. These grants are targeted towards students with a weak financial background or any disabilities. To determine who should receive these grants, institutions, and universities might ask for documents of bank statements, family income, income-tax statements, employment proofs, etc. The funds offered differ for each university, but more often they cover the following things: 

• Tuition Fees
• Accommodation
• Books
• Meals and Supplies
• Transportation

Must Read: MCM Scholarships

Specific Scholarships

These scholarships are offered to students from specific countries, races, or religions. Mostly targeted towards minorities, these scholarships assist financial aid for students who come from specific backgrounds depending on their criteria. For example, Belgium might offer scholarships to students specifically coming from African countries. There are also subjects specific scholarships provided to promote studies in a particular discipline. The following are a few scholarship examples offered in different countries/cities or a specific discipline:

• Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
• Scholarships in Dubai
• Scholarships in Asia
• Sports Scholarships in India
• UGC Scholarships for Girls
• UGC Post Graduate Scholarship for Professional Courses for SC/ST Candidates

Grants for Masters Students UK

The student prized refers to the awards or grants provided to the students who excel in various competitions or events. These prizes hold an amount of money offered to the winner. Student prizes do not fully fund the studies, but they do facilitate them in the form of financial aid. These can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Students who are competent and have the required skills must participate and avail of such offers. The following are the events which call for student prizes:

• Excellent performance in UG exams
• Various academic achievements
• Outstanding thesis work
• Excellent coursework and public examination results

Also Read: MBBS in UK

UK Masters Funding for International Students via Loan

These types of financial aid operate when a bank or government organizations borrow the amount for college. You will have to pay the money back with some amount of interest. These private banks or federal agencies offer money based on your college acceptance letter, the financial capacity to return the money and other factors. The following are the three types of loans for abroad studies:

• Direct Subsidized Loans: Depends on financial need.
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans: Determined by the school on how much you can borrow, based on the cost of attendance and how much other financial aid is received. 
• Direct PLUS Loans: These are merit-based, unsubsidized federal loans for parents and graduate/professional students. 

Since most of the students don’t have a credit history to be able to get such a huge amount from the banks, co-signing is a common way to process the loan. The government offers such loans at low rates of interest in order to encourage education. The repayment normally starts within 6 months after the student is done with his or her graduation and this period is called the ‘grace period’. Also, the repayment tenure ranges from 5 to 15 years.

Student Jobs for Masters Degree Funding

Keep in mind that each nation has its own regulations regarding when, where, and how foreign students can work if you want to employ a student job to supplement your income. Typical limitations include time limits on working during classes and guidelines dictating whether you may work off-campus or just in positions that are permitted by the institution. For instance, foreign students studying in Canada are required to get an Off-Campus Work Permit (OCWP).

The majority of campuses provide a wide range of part-time employment options, including as working in a store or café, in the student union, as an event organiser or assistant, in an administrative capacity, or as a student tutor or adviser. Consider working as an instructor on a freelance basis if you have expertise in a particular subject, such as a language, a sport, the arts, or music.

Part-Time Study

Consider taking part-time courses as well, which will let you work more while still keeping up your academic duties and spreading out your tuition payments over a longer period of time. If that is your goal, make sure you have a good balance between work and education. If you do find yourself having trouble coping, the student support staff at your institution might be able to point you in the direction of financing options that have arisen since the start of the academic year, or at the absolute least, assist you in finding a better balance or timetable.

Also Read: Partime Jobs in the UK for International Students

Portfolio Funding

The process of portfolio fundraising entails obtaining modest sums of cash from several sources. This might entail concurrently submitting applications for all of the funding opportunities discussed in this article or sending targeted letters to several recipients. Students develop a fundraising package with a letter requesting assistance in paying for their degree for this purpose. In the letter, they describe themselves, what they intend to study and why, what they will contribute to society at large or to the person they are writing to, and how to donate.

FAQs

Hence, we hope this blog helped you understand the wide range of scholarship schemes available for your master degree funding. The procedures for each scholarship differ and are complex at times. If you need any assistance, Our Leverage Edu experts are here to guide you in finding the best scholarship as per your chosen course and university! Sign up for a free session with us now!