{"id":1774,"date":"2020-05-06T08:53:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T13:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2021-11-15T11:20:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T17:20:38","slug":"graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve found the perfect graduate program<\/a> to pursue, but how are you going to pay for it? Scholarships are the holy grail of the financial aid world, a chance to receive free money for your accomplishments and to help you reach your next goal \u2014 there is nothing better! However, scholarships at the graduate level are nothing short of a quest for even the best hero (or heroine) to undertake.<\/p>\n

What Graduate Scholarships are Available? How Do I Apply?<\/h2>\n

You may know that at the undergraduate level there are literally thousands of scholarships from everything from academic achievements to athletic or extra-curricular activities. However, at the graduate level, scholarships are far less common and are more often based on major, degree, or even life experience.<\/p>\n

There are typically two main categories of scholarships for graduate students, those offered by the college or university you are applying to and those that are private or \u2018outside\u2019 scholarships. The ones from your college or university are usually fairly straightforward to both learn about and apply for. In most cases your admissions application is the only application required at your school, or, in some rare cases, there is a separate scholarship application required. In either case, these should be listed on your school\u2019s website, or your admissions or financial aid office are the best resources for knowing what particular scholarships your school may offer. While these ones are usually easier to apply for, being that they are managed by your school itself, it also means that everyone else in your program is likely applying for the same scholarship as well, so make sure to stand out and sell yourself as best you can during the admissions and\/or application process.<\/p>\n

Graduate scholarships offered by private or \u2018outside\u2019 agencies are typically harder to find. This usually means fewer applicants and a better chance of being selected. A great place to start on your quest for private scholarships is to check in with agencies that you have worked with or even groups that you may have volunteered with or supported in the past.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon to find graduate scholarships for adults who want to return to school for a new career path offered by the local or national associations. For example, if you are pursuing a graduate degree in education, local teacher\u2019s associations, national organizations, even local YMCA\u2019s or school districts may offer scholarships. While some may be specifically for undergraduates only, there is often some wiggle-room in there for a graduate student to receive one if the applicant pool is relatively small each year.<\/p>\n

Additionally, many larger local foundations that manage hundreds of scholarships annually often have some scholarships for graduate students in their portfolio. However, because they are mostly marketed towards undergraduate students, it\u2019s often the case that the graduate scholarships go un-awarded because they did not have any qualified graduate students apply. I know when I used to volunteer for a multi-million dollar local scholarship foundation, every year a dozen or more graduate student scholarships went unspent for that very reason.<\/p>\n

What Should I Expect During the Application Process?<\/h2>\n

While each scholarship application is going to look different and have different requirements, there are some basic core elements that most applications have in common. The first is your basic demographic and\/or financial information (which you can\u2019t really do anything about), and the second is your essay. The essay is far and away the most influential part of your scholarship application.<\/p>\n

After sitting on hundreds of scholarship review boards, I can definitively say that if it\u2019s an \u2018essay optional\u2019 scholarship and you don\u2019t write the essay, you have a very small chance of being awarded the funding. The scholarship reviewers want to feel like they know you and that they are helping you accomplish something important. This is your chance to sell yourself and stand out among the crowd<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spend time on your essay, making sure to answer whatever the essay topic is thoroughly and to stick within the required word count that they give you. One of the quickest ways to go to the bottom of the pile is to write a great American novel instead of a one-page essay or to write two sentences instead of two paragraphs. In both cases the reviewers see that you aren\u2019t following directions or taking their request seriously so they will often move on immediately to the next candidate. So pay attention to details, but also be honest and showcase yourself in the best light to ensure you stand out from the other applicants. Share personal stories or details such as how your upbringing or family or a particular event influenced your decision to pursue graduate school or a particular career.<\/p>\n

Once you submit your scholarship application, whether it\u2019s one at your college or university, or one from a private agency, you will need to wait to hear back until after all the applications are received and reviewed. Typically, you can expect to be notified if you are being awarded a scholarship within 30-90 days after the scholarship application deadline has passed. Depending on the number of applicants and the size of the agency, some will be able to make decisions faster than others.<\/p>\n

In most cases you will only hear from the scholarship agency if you are a selected recipient and not if you weren\u2019t selected. But, when you do find out you\u2019ve been awarded a scholarship, it\u2019s critical that you send that information to your financial aid office. The financial aid office at your school will then work on your behalf to ensure that your money is actually paid to you and will often pre-credit your bill for the amount of your scholarship. What that means is that they will often show the scholarship as pending on your bill even if the funding doesn\u2019t come in for a few months or weeks so you are not required to pay that amount. If you don\u2019t notify the financial aid office, the chances of you never receiving the money and\/or having to pay your entire bill in full are much higher.<\/p>\n

All in all, while the pursuit of graduate school scholarships may seem elusive at first, the truth is that your chances of finding and receiving one are higher if you are willing to do the research.<\/p>\n

Interested in learning more about your financial aid options? Explore our comprehensive funding e-guide here<\/a>, and then find your perfect graduate program<\/a> here!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve found the perfect graduate program to pursue, but how are you going to pay for it? Scholarships are the holy grail of the financial aid world, a chance to receive free money for your accomplishments and to help you reach your next goal \u2014 there is nothing better! However, scholarships at the graduate level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[331,590],"class_list":["post-1774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-pay-for-grad-school","tag-financialaid","tag-graduatescholarships"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGraduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Graduate Programs for Educators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1076\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cchiaro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sage Crary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cchiaro\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0aeae12a08343f45e143b89c4c339b46\"},\"headline\":\"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\"},\"wordCount\":1099,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"#FinancialAid\",\"#GraduateScholarships\"],\"articleSection\":[\"How to pay for grad school\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\",\"name\":\"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1076,\"caption\":\"Female student at computer working on scholarship application\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/\",\"name\":\"Graduate Programs for Educators\",\"description\":\"Masters and Doctoral Graduate Programs for Educators\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Graduate Programs for Educators\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/graduate-programs-for-educators-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/graduate-programs-for-educators-logo.png\",\"width\":934,\"height\":343,\"caption\":\"Graduate Programs for Educators\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0aeae12a08343f45e143b89c4c339b46\",\"name\":\"cchiaro\",\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators","description":"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators","og_description":"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_site_name":"Graduate Programs for Educators","article_published_time":"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1076,"url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cchiaro","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sage Crary","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"author":{"name":"cchiaro","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0aeae12a08343f45e143b89c4c339b46"},"headline":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know","datePublished":"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"wordCount":1099,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg","keywords":["#FinancialAid","#GraduateScholarships"],"articleSection":["How to pay for grad school"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/","url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/","name":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know - Graduate Programs for Educators","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-06T13:53:51+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-15T17:20:38+00:00","description":"You\u2019re ready to begin your graduate school journey, but how are you going to pay for it? Learn more about graduate scholarships and how to apply.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/May-6-Graduate-Scholarships-What-you-Need-to-Know-web.jpg","width":1500,"height":1076,"caption":"Female student at computer working on scholarship application"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/blog\/graduate-scholarships-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Graduate Scholarships: What You Need to Know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/","name":"Graduate Programs for Educators","description":"Masters and Doctoral Graduate Programs for Educators","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#organization","name":"Graduate Programs for Educators","url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/graduate-programs-for-educators-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/graduate-programs-for-educators-logo.png","width":934,"height":343,"caption":"Graduate Programs for Educators"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0aeae12a08343f45e143b89c4c339b46","name":"cchiaro","url":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}