4 Strategies to Save Money in Grad School

Getting through graduate school without putting yourself in the poorhouse

April 22, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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Mortyakova, a pianist who is studying for her doctorate in keyboard performance at the University of Miami, adds, however, that for those passionate about a career as a professor, lawyer, dentist, or other professional, a recession is a good time to buckle down to graduate school.

"Going to graduate school is a great thing to do if you can't find a job," she says. Who knows? Once you graduate, a spanking new degree might be just the little extra edge that gets you noticed by employers.

Tags:: tuition,; graduate schools,; personal finance,; financial aid,; paying for graduate school

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I went to www.DegreeWatchers.org and saved my son $5,000 on his Graduate degree. I thought it was a joke, but the money was reduced from tuition just for using the site as a click-through. I didn't have to register or anything! NICE! www.DegreeWatchers.org

Aaron of NY 10:07AM February 11, 2013

Don't go if you don't have money to waste. Also, don't go unless you get accepted to a top 20 school. The only benefit from most grad degrees is that they provide you with a formal credential that can help you get hired in a few situations (but only if you also have other "qualifications" to go along with the degree such as coffee-maker internships, cultural fit criteria AKA "you're a great schmoozer", etc.).
There is nothing taught in most grad courses that you can't teach yourself, so you're effectively paying a ton of money for access to a glorified test-grader (professors), a piece of paper, and an against-odds hope that it'll get you a higher paying job than you otherwise could have received. Therefore, the majority of people are better off just finding a job after their undergrad studies and moving up through the company's own pipeline while educating themselves. It'll usually be more profitable and even more academically beneficial since you'll have the freedom to focus on learning the things that actually matter to your career.
Ultimately, if you are truly an intelligent and driven individual, you probably don't need grad school to be successful.

Overqualified of TX 1:47PM April 10, 2010

Just came back from a great day at Teacher's college - would like to go for my
Just came back from a great day at Teacher's College NY. Just turned 60 and would like to go back for my Ed.D. Also, I would need to borrow money. I just starting exploring my options - I think an on-line degree from a noname school will get me nowhere. Give an opinion but be kind

Patricia of NJ 5:13PM March 20, 2010