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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Earning grad school financial aid while teaching


By Chris Walker

Student loans and student debt are no joke. This is serious business. Many students are graduating from college and post college studies with too many financial obligations; a great deal of this financial burden is due to education costs. In fact, many students graduate with enough debt to finance their own homes. I know it sounds crazy but that’s the reality.

We’re talking about 6-figured debts here. Can you imagine the rising expenses if that same graduate gets married? We’re talking about a crippling debt. Given the soft economy and the shortage of high paying jobs available out there, many students are facing the demon of student debt. Thankfully, there are many ways to mitigate or outright eliminate your student debt when you graduate.

In the graduate school context, a lot of these can be achieved through financial aid packages that involve a lot of scholarships and grants. Unlike loans, scholarships and grants don’t have to be paid back. The downside to this financial aid option is that they are very competitive. There is really no assurance that you will get them. While there are some grants that are given as free money by the government, they are far too small to cover the amount that you need to pay for your studies.

In terms of scholarships, you have to compete with other graduate students who are applying for the same pool of money. In fact, the more lucrative ones involve competition not just with the students from your school but also from all over the country and worse, all over the world. So, what do you do? You have to seriously consider a work-study. 


Graduate student aids are the bread and butter of most college campuses’ teaching staff. It’s an open secret that the more prestigious a university is, the more focused the professors are on research. Since research takes up so much of their time, they really can’t stretch themselves to cover the nitty-gritty of teaching. Lecturing is one thing but actually leading discussions and labs regarding the topics and the readings are other things entirely.

This is where the graduate student teaching assistant comes in. Not only can the TA lead the discussions, give out assignments, and monitor progress, they also help with grading term papers and finals. They are the backbone of any educational institution. The only thing that sucks is that most of them aren’t paid that well. Thankfully, this is changing since many are beginning to get more vocal about being paid decent enough wages so that they can not only pay for their living expenses but also their school expenses.

Work-study. This is where you should seriously get as much of your financial aid from. The great thing about work-study is that you can mold your graduate coursework and schedule around your teaching coursework. If you play your cards right, you can actually learn while on the job and also do your regular learning and research. And at the end of the process you will come out better prepared for either a career in academia or out in corporate America.

Regardless of what your overall goals and aspirations are, going through the teachers’ aid experience will help you get the vital skills that you need to succeed with other aspects of your life. We’re talking about punctuality, working under pressure, dealing with different types of personalities, dealing with bureaucracies, turning in work on time, double-checking your work, and so on and so forth.

This guest post was brought to you by Chris Walker, a writer for http://www.sampleessayaboutmyself.com. Chris writes model personal statement essays.

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