These days, a bachelor’s degree is the bare minimum qualification for any entry-level professional position. If you want any hope of moving up the career ladder, you need to pursue graduate-level credentials in your field — but grad school is notoriously expensive. The average cost of a graduate program is around $40,000 per year, which is the total pre-tax annual salary of many jobs accessible without graduate-level education. Though only 25 percent of students with debt have gone to graduate school, grad school students claim roughly 50 percent of all student loans.
So graduate school is necessary for career advancement, but it could also negatively impact your financial health for years into the future if you must take out student loans. Is there any way to get through grad school without taking on debt?
Find Programs With Paying Positions
Many schools will reduce tuition requirements — sometimes radically — if students are willing to do some work during their programs. Depending on your field of study, you may be able to work in labs as a research assistant during your master’s program, or you could assist professors as a classroom aide. You may need to apply for these opportunities; you can talk to your school’s admissions department to learn more about work-study programs that will cover tuition costs.
Look for Scholarships
There is a wide variety of scholarships available to students pursuing graduate education. You can start by looking for merit scholarships provided by your school; merit scholarships are tuition discounts used to attract high-achieving students, which improve the quality and reputation of an education institution. Various companies and non-profit organizations also offer scholarships, and every scholarship program has different requirements. You can apply for as many scholarships as you need to cover the cost of your graduate program, though you may need to reapply for certain scholarships every semester.
Enroll in Shorter Programs
Different programs can charge tuition in different ways: by credit-hour, by course, by semester. In any case, the shorter your program is, the less you will owe. While most master’s programs require two years of study, some can be completed in as little as nine months.
Of course, there are downsides to shorter programs. Most quick programs are much less comprehensive, so the credentials they supply can be less valuable to employers. Before you compromise quality of education for cost of tuition, you should consider your career goals and determine whether you can achieve your ambitions with a shorter degree program.
Balance School and Work
Once you leave the education system and begin your professional career, it can be difficult to imagine returning to school full-time with no source of income. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Maintaining your current employment while you obtain a master’s degree is possible thanks to online master’s programs that fit flexibly into your schedule.
Because online master’s courses are asynchronous — meaning they do not take place at specific times and rather that you can watch lectures and complete assignments within a broader time frame — you should be able to achieve a balance between work and school, remaining productive in both. Then, you can use your regular income to pay the high costs of your graduate school, reducing or eliminating your student debt.
Ask About Tuition Assistance
Most employers relish the opportunity to bring a master’s degree–holder on staff — so much that they might pay for a well-liked employee to pursue a master’s degree of their own. Education benefits are becoming more popular, and more employers are looking to invest in professional development opportunities with staff members they know and trust.
You might research the tuition assistance programs available from your current employer, or if you have a good relationship with your boss, you might approach them about opportunities to partner with you on your professional development. If your employer does cover some of your tuition, you may be locked in a contract to remain on staff for a certain number of years after graduation, but you can negotiate for higher pay or better responsibilities, too.
The prospect of taking on student debt from graduate school might be daunting, but trying to achieve your professional aspirations without an advanced education credential might just be impossible. Fortunately, with the right preparation, you can earn a bachelor’s degree and minimize your debt, allowing your professional dreams to come true.
