Hi all. I've been wanting to go back for my Ph.D. for several years and my current plan is to go back full-time within the next 18 mos. Was able to get my BS and MS without loans/debt and wanted to do the phd without debt by working f/t and going back p/t but that path has been a bit of a dead end so far. So, if I want to teach I really need to get cracking on school.
I've started wading through financial aid info, etc but since I know several of you are currently in college and several are profs, I thought I'd see what suggestions/tips you may have.
Thanks!

From what I know, if you're going for your PhD, you can usually get a fellowship, or have your tuition covered by being a TA for classes. But, it might depend on the field you are going into. I would check out the programs that you're looking at and shoot some emails to people asking about that.

tuition covered and got paid as a chemistry phd.

Personally, I'm hoping for a financial apocalypse that will erase my debt.

@WordsFromaSong -- every school differs, and every discipline, department, and program within every school differs. As others have suggested, some schools offer merit-based scholarships, meaning the better your GRE scores, the more likely you'll be to get money, or the more money you'll get. Some schools offer tuition abatements, which means you don't get money; you just have to pay less for the classes you take. Some offer teaching fellowships, which provide money in exchange for undergraduate teaching. Some offer combinations of all of the above. Some offer squat. The bottom line, though, is that you won't know what the situation is until you look at specific programs.

Here's another thing to think about, though. More prestigious schools are often much more expensive, but they tend to have much higher graduation rates and they tend to place their graduates in much better positions, whether those positions are in teaching, in post-docs, or in industry. So the question you want to ask yourself is, would you rather save money now on tuition and lose it later in income, or would you rather go into debt now and make more money to pay it off when you graduate? When I'm advising undegraduates, or MA students contemplating a PhD, I encourage them to think where they want, need, or expect to be in 5, 10, 15, and 20 years.

One last thing to consider. The most successful graduate students tend to be those who research which schools they want to go to by indentifying a particular lab, group, or faculty member with whom they want to work; they then figure out how to make that work for them. Cost is really, really important, but it's not the only thing to take into consideration, and sometimes it's not the most important either.

tl;dr? Research the shit out of the programs that interest you and see what they offer. Think long-term.

I'm in the process of trying to get my current employer to pay for my Masters. If you work for a large company, many will pay or help pay for further education. Performance based of course. Definitely something to look in to

Other than taking out loans, using your parents, and working 40+ hours a week the only other viable option is to sell drugs. Logically.

Friends of mine TA to help offset the cost of school, but really it comes down to your major and how much money your school can pay you. You might be able to a grant, depending on your major to cover costs while you research and produce your dissertation.

I'd plan on borrowing some, particularly living expenses.

I want to get a Master's, I have even gone through the orientation for one program but decided I didnt want the debt. But I am so bored!!

Look into getting a TA position. Tuition paid plus stipend.

Prolly go on your and raise the money

hey, if you plan now, you'll have tips on paying for grad school, as opposed to tips paying for grad school

PhD in Parks and Recreation - f*** me - I went to college 20 years too late

Have you considered becoming a man-whore?

@WordsFromASong said:

Um, no. Mostly because I'm female.

Well then, that makes things much easier...

No comprende

Haha, thank you for sparing me the explanation.