Paying for Masters

[schoolpsych1]

I was wondering how some students who are traveling to any locaton for their masters are paying for all the expenses, since many programs aren't funded? Do many of you rely on loans or mainly savings? It seems very expensive if you have to add R&B along with tuition and other expenses of living far from home.
Everyone I know that moved to another state, was getting a PhD and housing was included or partially paid for. Anyone getting a masters was getting it through their workplace (re accounting/finance masters)mostly funded by their job or working and going at night while living home or with an average of 3 roommates, to make ends meet.
I read posts from a student at Fordham that commutes home to Ct, tiring, but doable.
Just curious, because unlike PhD's, you are much more "on your own".

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[Marissa4usa]

I guess it depends on the program but I have the attitude that there is no way in hell that I was going to pay for my education beyong undergrad. I want to produce research and schools should pay me for doing all the work and getting their name out there. Having said that this obviously only works for research oriented programs. If you are going to an aplied program things might be different (just as it is for doctoral programs).

In my case I exclusively applied to funded program. My plan was to go a PhD program this but I didnt get in. Therefore, as a back up I applied to about 8 masters program in genereal/experimental psychology that all had at least funded their students partially. I told myself that I would be willing to deal with the cost of living if a school would give me a full ride and if I really loved the program. Turns out that I got into most of the masters programs (why couldn't it be the same for the PhD programs?) and most of them offered me some sort of funding (i.e. assistantships, partial out-of-state tuition waiver, etc). My top school unfortunately has not offered me anything (yet) which will most likely cause me to decline especially since one school has offered me a full package incl. a very nice stipend (especially for masters programs) so I can't justify paying for school when I can go for free and get paid. However, moving to this place is going to cost me and my boyfriend almost a grant (which is still cheaper than buying an entirely new household) but I consider it well worth it.

Bottomline, unless you want to go to school in an applied field I would look out for programs that offer at least partial funding. Mostly funding at masters programs is on a competitve basis but at least there is the opportunity.

 

[WannaBeDrMe]

My program was technically unfunded but we had some funding opportunities. There were grad assistanceships (even in other departments) and little scholarships that add up in the end.

Still, it was expensive. I lived with 2 roommates... also grad students. One was a paleontologist and one was a hydrologist... so it was awesome. I spent one year with another MSW student and I don't recommend that for a million reasons. It was nice to hang out away from the departmental drama... and geo kids seem super laid back compared to social workers/psychology peeps.

I try to look at everything this way... lots of your eventual clients will live supporting families of at least 4 on incomes of about 15k a year... that is LESS than the max student loan amount you'd need to fund one person.

It is very doable... and as much as you don't want loans... none of us do... but lots of professionals end up taking them out from teachers to doctors... fully funded positions are becoming more and more and more and more rare as universities have to cut funding for professors/departments... with much more to come in the next year.

Look into loan cancellation programs... (if you serve in a service position for 10 years, making the monthly payment each month, your loans are entirely cancelled after that date... the new Fed direct cancellation program)...

Good luck with your decision... not easy...

 

[schoolpsych1]

It is a decision not to be made quickly. I want to be a school psychologist which is a little different than the other clinical programs. I would like to leave my state, but will try to find university's that seem more promising than others in funding opportunities. I am also looking at scholarships and will apply to ANYTHING that looks like a fit. : )
I have one college with a school psych program literally down the street so not living home would be silly. Another in my state is an hour away so that might get annoying although I know people drive to work that amount of time every day. Some posters on this site were kind enough to mention schools that fund masters more than others and I am keeping a spreadsheet on my computer.
I know my salary at best would be around 60,000 with a MA and if I factor in loans over 10 years, they are pretty high. If I can extend them longer, it might be more reasonable and I can deduct the interest. And as WannabeDrme said, there are programs that help with loan forgiveness depending on where you work and I wouldn't want to leave Psych for anything else. My cousin went into finance only because she was good at it and after 3 years, absolutely hates it. She is living in DC, working at a great company, but hates the job, the long hours, the lack of pleasure in her work. She is waiting a few years and then going to follow her original plan in social sciences....sometimes the road is long and winding in our search for our vocations in life.
I just wondered when I heard of students applying all over the US, flying here and there, and they had undergrad loans, how they logically figured out the repayment......I love Psych but it isn't the highest paying major.