College-Based Award
Much like undergraduate programs, colleges and universities do award partial or full scholarships for graduate programs if the student is especially promising. While not as common as undergraduate scholarships, it’s worth looking into whether your school offers them and what, if anything, you need to do to apply for them.

Career-Specific Scholarships
Depending on your chosen career path there may be scholarships to help you pay for the costs of taking classes to get into the field. Nursing and teaching career choices can often present with scholarships to help pay the costs of classes and certifications that are necessary to enter the field.

Research Fellowship
If research will be of particular import to your field there may be fellowship opportunities to help pay for your schooling. Technology, science, and even some math studies can provide scholarships based around the research that you will do and assist in doing while you study for your degree.

Professional Organizations
If you belong to a professional organization as a result of your current job they may offer scholarship money to help you advance your degree and become an even more valuable member of their organization. A little research into what benefits are afforded to members of your organization can result in savings on your degree.

North American Interfraternal Foundation
And you thought joining that fraternity or sorority was just about being social. This foundation awards scholarships to former members of fraternities and sororities that desire to enter into post-graduate studies and need help covering the costs.

Fulbright Program
A government funded program to help relations between us and other countries, the Fulbright program will allow you to study, research, and even teach in your area of discipline in other countries, allowing you to learn and experience the world at the same time.

Rhodes Scholarship
Specific to Oxford College, this scholarship is one of the most prestigious available to graduate students and allows the recipient to study at Oxford and even includes a stipend for living expenses paid by the Rhodes Trust.

Federal Government
The federal government offers numerous scholarships beyond the Fulbright program that can help eliminate or defer the costs of attending a graduate program to get your Master’s degree.

State Government
Your home state may also offer scholarships to potential graduate students, though typically it’s only available to those planning to attend a school within the state.

Minority Scholarships
Available for both ethnic and gender minorities, there are a plethora of scholarships available to help defer the costs of attending school to achieve your Master’s Degree

Ashley V Gause is a teacher that got her masters of teaching online. To learn more about how you can get your masters of teaching visit: http://mastersinteaching.org.

Paying For College

A college student’s first step should be figuring out how to pay for college. Typically, there are four options available. The first two are the most coveted as they do not require you to pay back anything. Scholarships and grants are given to students of all ages. They are based upon a wide variety of factors including, but not limited to, age, major, college, gender, ethnicity, location, income and religion. Always check with your employer, local clubs and church for possible scholarships.

The third option is in the form of student loans, which cover anything school related. Some loans are public and provided through government assistance. Private student loans are provided through various banks and even colleges themselves. Interest rates vary based upon the amount and whether a parent co-signs. Luckily there is now a cheaper payment plan available through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that allows students to repay their loans based upon their income. Most student loans are not due until the student graduates, though some offer a payment plan throughout college to help reduce the debt before graduation.

The fourth option involves paying all fees and tuition during college. This saves hundreds of dollars in interest later on, but can be hard if money is not available at the time. Most colleges have a tuition payment plan allowing students to pay only a portion of the payment upfront and the rest at regular intervals throughout the school year.

Saving Money While On Campus

Once college itself is paid for, there are still other expenses, such as entertainment, books, food and gas. The first rule college students should follow is to avoid credit cards if at all possible. They offer too much of a temptation to simply charge something, thereby increasing the student’s debt. Instead, they should look for a free student checking account. They can then pay for purchases with checks or debit cards without going into debt.

Always take full advantage of your student ID. This card can get you significant discounts at theaters, local restaurants and on campus activities. Students can save hundreds of dollars on entertainment alone by using their student ID and taking advantage of on campus activities. Whenever possible, you should buy used. This includes textbooks, clothes, music and anything else you might need. Used items can be found both online and off. Spending more doesn’t make a difference.

Consider having a night in; a cheap takeout and a rented movie are far cheaper than actually going out. The best way to save is to simply keep track of your expenses and stick to a strict budget that is set at the beginning of each semester.

What am I talking about? Scholarships. Plain and simple. I’m guessing before you came to college you may have gotten some scholarship money from your high school or some local organizations where you grew up. If you had a good counselor, you were also probably told to apply for scholarships online before coming to college. So I’ll assume most of you know about those things.

What not everyone realizes is that there is a ton of money out there that can be found in scholarships that are only for current college students. They’re really not that hard to find either. Sure, you will probably have some stiff competition, but why not go for it? Here’s 4 places you should be looking to perhaps get some extra money for college.

1) First, I suggest you look into potential scholarships given by your department (or major). You can more than likely find them on your department website or by even talking to your academic adviser (you have met them right?).

2) Next, I would see if there are scholarships available by your college. No, I’m not talking about your school. I’m talking about the college that your major is a part of. This could be the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Design, College of Engineering, etc. You get the point. Make sure you apply for any and all of them that you qualify for.

3) Many schools also give out scholarships that are separate from their financial aid packages that you more than likely have received. Check your school website and see what they have available.

4) Lastly, check online and see what you can find. Fastweb is more than likely the most well known site. You can find more by doing a quick web search.

Well, hopefully that will help you out a bit. Am I missing any places that you’ve found scholarship money? If so, let me hear ‘em! Just make a quick comment. I’d love to hear from you!