How do most people fund their Masters?
Just been looking at a particular Masters and the tuition fee is £10,000 - factor in living costs and I guess it would be about £16,000 for the whole year. I was just wondering how most people pay for their Masters degrees - is taking out a loan a common option?
I'd shop around for a masters degree that cost around half that tuition fee to be honest.
pyramid schemes, joking.
Considering how many unis want PG students. You should be paying much less than that.
Considering how many unis want PG students. You should be paying much less than that.
Original post by jonnny
Just been looking at a particular Masters and the tuition fee is £10,000 - factor in living costs and I guess it would be about £16,000 for the whole year. I was just wondering how most people pay for their Masters degrees - is taking out a loan a common option?
I worked in between my Bachelors and my Masters. It's the only option really, with fees on the rise.
Original post by laurakate1988
I'd shop around for a masters degree that cost around half that tuition fee to be honest.
great thinking, but the MA in Victorian Literature isn't going to help him get that pharmacy job.
Original post by jonnny
Just been looking at a particular Masters and the tuition fee is £10,000 - factor in living costs and I guess it would be about £16,000 for the whole year. I was just wondering how most people pay for their Masters degrees - is taking out a loan a common option?
Working between Bachelors and Masters, loans, financial support etc.
I'll be paying $150,000 most likely if I end up at Columbia within the next two years
Original post by laurakate1988
I'd shop around for a masters degree that cost around half that tuition fee to be honest.
And you'd be one of those that end up with a worthless piece of paper.
The bottom line is that when I did my first masters in 09/10 the fees for most courses, nationally and regardless of subject, didn't really exceed 3.5k.
I don't believe it's right for unis to charge so much now. I don't have a problem with the idea of self funding a postgraduate course but I do have a problem with the idea of "if you want to get on in life it's gonna cost you." With respect, that's very right wing and elitist.
Besides, there are more reasons to do postgraduate study than seeing it as a financial investment. If I'm interested in a subject I would consider the cost of studying it (if reasonable) my equivalent of travelling or buying an expensive car; treating myself to something I'll enjoy basically. It's all about what is valuable to the individual.
I don't believe it's right for unis to charge so much now. I don't have a problem with the idea of self funding a postgraduate course but I do have a problem with the idea of "if you want to get on in life it's gonna cost you." With respect, that's very right wing and elitist.
Besides, there are more reasons to do postgraduate study than seeing it as a financial investment. If I'm interested in a subject I would consider the cost of studying it (if reasonable) my equivalent of travelling or buying an expensive car; treating myself to something I'll enjoy basically. It's all about what is valuable to the individual.
Thinking about the people on my course, a combination of:
-being lucky enough to get some funding (my uni had a good funding scheme for this year for the sciences; there's more than one person besides myself on my course who benefited from this-which covered fees and possibly a living costs bursary, dependent on your undergraduate degree mark and household income), but that's pretty rare.
-saving up between undergrad and masters (or during undergrad).
-loans, maxing out overdrafts
-part time jobs
-parents or spouses that can support them
-plus quite a few people live at home and commute which saves significantly on living costs
I luckily got funding from my uni which covered my fees and gave me a £5k bursary. But I was prepared before I found out that I got funding however, to cover most of my fees with my savings (I worked during most of undergrad and spent little), my parents had offered to help with the rest, and I'd have had to keep a part time job alongside my course (which would have been manageable but also horrible during the most insane weeks during my masters course) which would have covered the barest of my living costs provided I'd lived off beans for a year.
So yeah, for most people it's a case of save, borrow, work and live off as little as possible...
-being lucky enough to get some funding (my uni had a good funding scheme for this year for the sciences; there's more than one person besides myself on my course who benefited from this-which covered fees and possibly a living costs bursary, dependent on your undergraduate degree mark and household income), but that's pretty rare.
-saving up between undergrad and masters (or during undergrad).
-loans, maxing out overdrafts
-part time jobs
-parents or spouses that can support them
-plus quite a few people live at home and commute which saves significantly on living costs
I luckily got funding from my uni which covered my fees and gave me a £5k bursary. But I was prepared before I found out that I got funding however, to cover most of my fees with my savings (I worked during most of undergrad and spent little), my parents had offered to help with the rest, and I'd have had to keep a part time job alongside my course (which would have been manageable but also horrible during the most insane weeks during my masters course) which would have covered the barest of my living costs provided I'd lived off beans for a year.
So yeah, for most people it's a case of save, borrow, work and live off as little as possible...
Original post by jonnny
Just been looking at a particular Masters and the tuition fee is £10,000 - factor in living costs and I guess it would be about £16,000 for the whole year. I was just wondering how most people pay for their Masters degrees - is taking out a loan a common option?
I know of a couple of people who've taken out a Career Development Loan, however bare in mind the maximum you can borrow is £10,000 and you need to have a good credit rating to be approved. Others have worked for a few years (or more) first to save up, a fair number are working part time alongside doing the course full time and others are doing the course part time and working near full time. I've been fortunate enough to get money from my parents and granparents to pay for it and I know one person who was awarded a full scholarship- generally these are really rare in arts & humanities.
(edited 9 years ago)
Waited until I could afford it - and I mean properly afford it, so that the cost of a part-time Masters made just a little dent in family finances.
And then chose a Masters that was career-enhancing rather than ground-breaking academic research - which, if you're not going to be an academic, is the whole point of doing one in the first place.
And then chose a Masters that was career-enhancing rather than ground-breaking academic research - which, if you're not going to be an academic, is the whole point of doing one in the first place.
Original post by jonnny
Just been looking at a particular Masters and the tuition fee is £10,000 - factor in living costs and I guess it would be about £16,000 for the whole year. I was just wondering how most people pay for their Masters degrees - is taking out a loan a common option?
What's your field, university, and nationality? Funding depends on several factors.
My parents have offered to pay but before people call me spoiled or whatnot there are several factors at play here.
1. I have a part time/casual call center job for the last 2 years while in uni and pay for most things myself - the condition is I must keep this job during the course of the year.
2. Neither are my parents went to college and really believe in education.
3. I live at home and help at home - they said they would pay if I stayed at home or if I went away they help with living costs but I would have to cover tuition myself.
So yeah.. :P
1. I have a part time/casual call center job for the last 2 years while in uni and pay for most things myself - the condition is I must keep this job during the course of the year.
2. Neither are my parents went to college and really believe in education.
3. I live at home and help at home - they said they would pay if I stayed at home or if I went away they help with living costs but I would have to cover tuition myself.
So yeah.. :P
I got a funded place (tuition fee only) and have been working 2 part time jobs to cover living costs (both are very flexible and 0 hours and I've found a good balance between working the minimum amount needed to live and having plenty of time for my course). It's been very doable, but then I'm naturally a massive cheapskate and living cheaply hasn't felt like too much of a hardship.
I went for a course that maybe wasn't perfect because of the good funding options available for it, but it doesn't seem to have harmed my career prospects and I have a job lined up for when I finish in September in an area wanted to move into before starting the masters (Masters was a way to get a career/direction change away from my first degree).
So shopping around and a cheaper degree doesn't necessarily mean a worthless piece of paper
I went for a course that maybe wasn't perfect because of the good funding options available for it, but it doesn't seem to have harmed my career prospects and I have a job lined up for when I finish in September in an area wanted to move into before starting the masters (Masters was a way to get a career/direction change away from my first degree).
So shopping around and a cheaper degree doesn't necessarily mean a worthless piece of paper
(edited 9 years ago)
I've just been awarded £10,000 by my uni to study Psychology. Comes in form of a fee waiver (£5490) and the rest is paid to me in instalments ☺
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Original post by Floob
I got a funded place (tuition fee only) and have been working 2 part time jobs to cover living costs (both are very flexible and 0 hours and I've found a good balance between working the minimum amount needed to live and having plenty of time for my course). It's been very doable, but then I'm naturally a massive cheapskate and living cheaply hasn't felt like too much of a hardship.
I went for a course that maybe wasn't perfect because of the good funding options available for it, but it doesn't seem to have harmed my career prospects and I have a job lined up for when I finish in September in an area wanted to move into before starting the masters (Masters was a way to get a career/direction change away from my first degree).
So shopping around and a cheaper degree don't necessarily mean a worthless piece of paper
I went for a course that maybe wasn't perfect because of the good funding options available for it, but it doesn't seem to have harmed my career prospects and I have a job lined up for when I finish in September in an area wanted to move into before starting the masters (Masters was a way to get a career/direction change away from my first degree).
So shopping around and a cheaper degree don't necessarily mean a worthless piece of paper
Well don! What are the subject of your degrees? Is it a STEM or Arts/Humanities subject?
Original post by meaow1990
Well don! What are the subject of your degrees? Is it a STEM or Arts/Humanities subject?
STEM - taught masters (MSc) in the life sciences
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