Funding Public Health Degrees

[backwardinduction]

How do you guys plan to fund your education? I mean other than loans and whatnot.

Scholarships and financial aid look like they'll either be relatively minor for most, while the really good ones will be be really rare and hard to get.

How feasible do you think landing a GA position, as a teaching or research assistant, or anything similar will be for someone going for an MPH, MS, or PhD? I know that for PhD's they're typically guaranteed and expected, which is great, but for those of us wanting an MPH, how will we finance our education without accumulating earth-shattering amounts of loans?

The schools we will go to are another important factor. Most of the top schools are extremely expensive private schools. UMN seems to be a bit cheaper than most of the other of the top schools of public health. My lowest ranked school I'm applying for, the University of Buffalo, is about a 4th of the cost of Yale or BU, but they don't seem to have as many ways to reduce that number further, at least at a first glance.

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[Pdesai8]

For MPH/MS: At big public, research universities it is not difficult to find a GSI or GSR position (aka TA or Research Assistant). I go to Berkeley and almost everyone in my cohort is doing one or the other (this waives tuition so it's really nice). I know at Michigan it is not too difficult to find these positions either. You definitely have to be proactive about contacting professors to find these positions, but it's definitely do-able. I would imagine it's similar at UCLA/UWashington as well.

 

[IntriguedStudent]

For MPH/MS: At big public, research universities it is not difficult to find a GSI or GSR position (aka TA or Research Assistant). I go to Berkeley and almost everyone in my cohort is doing one or the other (this waives tuition so it's really nice). I know at Michigan it is not too difficult to find these positions either. You definitely have to be proactive about contacting professors to find these positions, but it's definitely do-able. I would imagine it's similar at UCLA/UWashington as well.

That actually really varies, even among the larger, top universities.

Unfortunately, I'm planning to mostly cover mine with loans. I'm going to attempt to get an RA or TA position if at all possible. If I can't, I'm probably going to just get a part-time job to help with living expenses (and possibly paying off at least the interest that will be accruing on my loans).

My fiance will also be working while I am in school, which will help mitigate some costs. But really, I'm just going to be in lots of soul-crushing debt.

 

[Stories]

You should consider your tolerance for loans and your ultimate career objectives. How does the degree fit in, what type of salary do you think you may land, where do i want to live? Those types of questions will help guide you to figure out where to go and what types of programs to land. Jumping into an expensive program and accruing lots of debt is daunting, but if you know what you need and want out of your education, you can feel much better about the process. This, unfortunately, just takes some time to figure out.

My biggest suggestion is talking to many folks who have done the jobs and education you're thinking of to see if your vision aligns with what those students reality was.

 

[Pdesai8]

I probably would not have gotten back to school if I had to take out loans. If money is an issue, you can choose schools strategically that do have opportunities to do research or teach to waive tuition. True, it's not a guarantee, but if you talk to current students you can get an idea of how easy those positions are to secure depending on the school. Secondly, once you get into schools, I would reach out to the program director and be very honest about your financial situation. I reached out to our director and told her that I really want to come to Berkeley, I just don't know if I can afford it financially. Then, when a scholarship came up, she recommended me for it based on our conversation so I ended up getting a 20k scholarship.

You definitely need to think of what type of job you want afterwards and as Stories mentioned, if you really need an MPH to progress in your career. I plan on working in a small, non-profit health organization where i know it will take me years to get out of debt if I took out loans. I don't want to have to be pressured into getting a high-paying job that I do not want just because I need to pay back my student loans.

 

[volleyball93]

For those of you who have an RA position/are planning to find one, how do we go about that? It would be great to find an RA position as I have prior research experience, but does anyone know the timeline of contacting professors and whatnot? And what exactly you're supposed to say to try and set it up?

 

[Pdesai8]

You should email the professors who do research in the topics you are interested and say that you are interested in learning about how opportunities to get involved in their research and why you're interested in it and a brief statement of your past research experience. Don't go straight out saying you want an RA position because you're more likely to be ignored or receive a simple email saying they don't have any available. instead, you should focus on connecting with them and building that relationship so if they have anything in the future, they will think of you. You might even get something super-part time at first with no tuition-waiver, but then could potentially turn into an RA position the next semester. Just keep your options open and think strategically! It's just like networking and getting a real job. And for the fall, you should start looking around May.

 

[backwardinduction]

You should email the professors who do research in the topics you are interested and say that you are interested in learning about how opportunities to get involved in their research and why you're interested in it and a brief statement of your past research experience. Don't go straight out saying you want an RA position because you're more likely to be ignored or receive a simple email saying they don't have any available. instead, you should focus on connecting with them and building that relationship so if they have anything in the future, they will think of you. You might even get something super-part time at first with no tuition-waiver, but then could potentially turn into an RA position the next semester. Just keep your options open and think strategically! It's just like networking and getting a real job. And for the fall, you should start looking around May.

This is really good advice, and it matches with the experience I had gaining the opportunities for research in undergrad. Just asking them about their research can open doors