Graduate school is expensive, but there are many grants available. Students should apply for as many as possible, tailored to the target audience, and with strong academic background and references. Departments, governments, and companies offer scholarships, and obscure grants have better chances. Applications should be submitted early with carefully chosen references.
Graduate school is very expensive. Fortunately, there are many different types of graduate student grants available to partially or fully offset graduate expenses. It is advisable to apply for as many grants as possible to maximize the likelihood of obtaining funding. Scholarships for graduate students are issued by many different agencies, including academic departments, corporations and governments, and each avenue should be pursued. Each grant application must be tailored to its target audience, timely and supported with a strong academic background and carefully selected references.
Many different agencies and institutions offer scholarships to graduate students. Every donation category must be pursued. Grants with limited numbers of applicants, such as those for study of comparatively obscure subjects or those offered only to a small number of potential applicants, should be the focus of special attention, as the chances of getting a reasonably obscure grant are usually much better than than those of getting a high prestige and famous scholarship.
Most departments offer scholarships to their students. These grants range from multi-year grants to small grants designed to facilitate modest research projects or conference travel. Each department will maintain grant and grant lists. Some of these will form part of the standard graduate funding process. Many others, however, particularly travel and small research grants, are easy to obtain if a student simply takes the time to apply.
Grants issued by outside agencies usually have an associated agenda of some sort. The US Department of State, for example, offers a variety of grants for travel, research, and language studies. They are designed to provide useful information to the Department of State and also to assist in training a potential pool of experts in areas of national interest. Most governments and many companies offer subsidies for similar reasons. When applying for these grants, highlight the ways in which the proposed project really meets the needs of the government, institution or company providing the grant.
When applying for graduate student grants, the application package is critical. References should be chosen carefully, with preference given to leading faculty and then other faculty members who will provide strongly positive references and can speak effectively on the subject of the fellowship. Applications must be submitted as early as possible, and any additional requirements such as language or physical exams required by some programs must be met as soon as possible.
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