How to Fund Your Graduate Degree
How to Fund Your Graduate Degree Heading link
Ready to start grad school, but unsure how to pay for it?
If you are considering starting a master’s program, you may be asking yourself how you will be able to afford it. Many applicants and new students often ask us about assistance with tuition, or ways they can pay for their graduate degree program. We offer a few different ways to help fund your education. Here is our guide to scholarships, assistantships, and loans to help you get started.
Scholarships
The Liautaud Graduate School of Business offers a limited amount of merit-based scholarship funding and partial tuition and fee waivers to each incoming class. All applicants will automatically be considered for any available funding if they are admitted. Applicants do not need to complete any additional paperwork to be considered for funding. Funding is typically awarded to the top candidates of each incoming class. The Scholarship Committee considers candidates with the highest test scores, strong academic performance, a solid track record of progressive work experience, and other factors.
UIC SnAP! is a website that contains scholarships for continuing UIC students in all colleges and at all levels. Click here to go directly to the UIC SnAP! webpage. Start by logging in with your NETID in the upper right-hand corner. You can view complete scholarship listings as well as allow the system to match you directly with a number of different scholarships. External scholarships are also visible in the system and directions to other websites may be provided. NOTE: You need to complete the General Application in order for your application to be considered complete. Additionally, each scholarship may require essays or uploads.
Graduate Assistantships
Students who enroll for eight or more credit hours during the fall and spring semesters are eligible to apply for a graduate assistantship. Students are responsible for finding their own assistantships, just as one would find a job. The colleges, graduate programs, administrative offices, and research centers appoint graduate students as graduate assistants (GA). Each department is responsible for posting and promoting their Graduate Assistant positions and do so via several platforms:
The weekly hours of service required of assistants are twenty for a half-time appointment and the proportional fraction of time for other appointments. These on-campus opportunities provide students with a partial tuition waiver and a stipend that varies in amount according to the time worked and the available funding in the department.
Student Loans
The UIC Financial Aid Office is the best resource for financial aid information. Please view their website or email money@uic.edu. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply for loans if they meet the federal criteria. To be considered for federal financial aid, applicants must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The priority filing date for the Fall term is March 1. Part-time students enrolled for at least six credit hours in a semester are also eligible for federal student loans.