Money Talks, Fear Walks
At Ebonies in the Ivory, an integral component of our mission is to demystify the doctoral process and ultimately empower WOC to continue to pursue and achieve doctoral success. With that being said, we want to help rip the band-aid off and address one of the most daunting questions surrounding pursuing a terminal degree: HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO PAY FOR THIS?!?! Unless you are lucky enough to have a lump sum of money saved up for educational expenses, this is a real concern for the majority who have ever decided to continue their education, even after having already funded multiple degrees. Have no fear, however, for EITI is here! In an effort to help reduce some anxiety you may have concerning how to partially or fully fund your doctoral degree, we present the following financial options below:
Out-of-pocket funding- We know that this is the least attractive of all the options we discuss here, and depending on the cost of attendance for your program, it may not be a viable option. However, if you have resolved to avoid applying for student loans, this may be a possible route for you. Before I found another vehicle by which to fund my PhD, I decided that I did not want to add to my student loan debt, and thus I would keep my full-time position (Yes working full time while pursuing a PhD is feasible!) and pay tuition out-of-pocket. This option was possible for me due to a myriad of reasons (i.e. in-state tuition at a public institution, minimal financial obligations, sufficient income, etc.). If you are considering paying out-of-pocket, we suggest conducting your own personal cost-benefit analysis and researching doctoral programs that offer the best holistic experience, while allowing you to get the best bang for your buck.
Scholarships/Fellowships- Scholarships are probably the first option that comes to mind when exploring financial assistance. Most scholarships are merit-based and address a specific field of study. Fellowships are also merit-based, but often differ from scholarships in that they may require a service commitment, such as a completed internship, scholarly publication, or conference presentation. Fellowships can be categorized as Predoctoral, Doctoral, Dissertation, and Postdoctoral depending on what stage of the doctoral process the funding is specified for. I know that Dr. Poole greatly benefited from fellowship funding during her doctoral journey and those networks and relationships gained have proven to be invaluable. In addition to institutional-specific funding, here are some doctoral scholarships and fellowships available to WOC:
Predoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
UNCF Merck Graduate Science Research Dissertation Fellowships
National Board of Certified Counselors Minority Fellowship Program (Doctoral)
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Initiative Graduate Fellowship Program
Vine Deloria Jr. Memorial Scholarship for Native American/ Alaskan Native graduate students
Anthony A. Welmas Doctoral Scholarship for Native American/ Alaskan Native students
Johnson & Johnson Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars Program (Doctoral)
https://www.profellow.com/ is also an excellent fellowship database that allows you to navigate through over 1,000 academic and professional fellowships.
Graduate Assistantships- Graduate assistantships are another way to secure doctoral funding. Though assistantship terms are defined by each institution, their premise is to offset tuition costs whether partially or fully, while students serve as teaching assistants, researchers, interns, and essentially part-time employees. In addition to covering tuition-related expenses, some schools offer a monthly stipend to cover living expenses. Often graduate assistants are still responsible for covering their academic fees. Assistantships may also serve to provide valuable career experience for graduate students, especially when placement occurs in the field that they plan to pursue upon graduation.
Tuition/Fee Waivers- A tuition waiver is a financial award that may be available to graduate students due to a number of factors. Often waivers are granted to students who qualify based on their status in underrepresented groups, such as “minority”, “veteran”, “disabled”, "low-income", etc. The two types of tuition waivers are partial (tuition is covered, associated academic fees are not) and full (100% of tuition and fees are covered). Most colleges and universities that offer tuition waivers include this information on either their financial aid web page, graduate school web page or on the web pages of departments that offer waivers specific to their students. As tuition waiver recipient, of which my minority status made me eligible, I always advise to call/email your institution’s graduate school as well as the department that houses your degree program. When I enrolled in my graduate program, I was unaware of what a tuition waiver was, or that my institution had allocated funding for minority students pursuing graduate degrees in the form of partial fee (read tuition) waivers. As I searched for funding, by happenstance I stumbled upon the brief mention of a graduate fee waiver, which was at that time obscurely placed on a university web page that I am certain did not receive much traffic. I immediately called the graduate school and was informed that a separate application had to be completed by my degree program director and subsequently provided to them in order for me to be considered. My program director had absolutely no idea what the graduate school was referring to and was not convinced that the waiver was legitimate, or that I would actually receive it, but he promised to do his research. Days later, he informed me that after much searching he had located the application and submitted it, and then wished me luck, albeit unconvinced of my chances for success. Fortunately I did receive the waiver and was only responsible for academic fees, which were only a small fraction of the cost of tuition. Because sharing is caring, I made sure to begin to spread the word about tuition waivers to every minority student I knew that was preparing to enroll in graduate school. Keep in mind that there may be some institutional policies surrounding tuition waivers such as restricted application periods and course hour requirements per academic term.
Tuition Assistance/Exemption- Some colleges and universities afford the opportunity to their employees to take a predetermined number of course hours that are exempt from tuition costs based on employment status. Often, one must be employed for a specific length of time before being allowed to take advantage of tuition reimbursement, and may be obligated to continue employment at that institution for a set time period after completing degree requirements.
Tuition Reimbursement- If you are fortunate enough, you may be employed at a company that values continuing education and includes the opportunity for partial or full tuition reimbursement in its benefits package. Utilization of a company’s tuition reimbursement program may require a commitment of employment for a specified period of time beyond degree completion. If you are unsure if your place of employment offers tuition reimbursement, or would like to advocate for tuition reimbursement, contacting your your Human Resources representative/department is a great option.
Student Loans- Currently, Americans owe around 1.5 trillion dollars in outstanding student loan debt. This disparaging statistic clearly outlines the crisis surrounding rising tuition costs and educational funding in the U.S. As reluctant as one may be to apply for student loans, sometimes utilizing them to fund educational pursuits is unavoidable and necessary. As so many other informational resources suggest, using wisdom on the front end when taking out loans is key to reducing the impact they may have on your finances in the long run. Some well known strategies are:
Only apply only for the amount you absolutely need to cover tuition and fees.
Try to avoid taking out private loans and stick to federal loans, preferably those that are classified as subsidized (interest does not begin accruing until after degree completion) versus unsubsidized (interest begins accruing once money is received).
Select loans with the lowest interest rates possible.
Attempt to pay down principal of the loan while enrolled in your degree program or during the deferment period, especially if interest is not accruing during that time.
Contribute more than the minimum payment required so as to make a greater impact on the principal amount of the loan.
Consider utilizing the debt snowball method (made famous by financial guru Dave Ramsey) or the debt avalanche method to pay off your loans as soon as possible.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of funding opportunities available to WOC but hopefully we have been able to provide legitimate options to show that obtaining funding for a doctoral degree is indeed feasible. We firmly believe that a doctoral degree is certainly a worthwhile investment, and that when leveraged, will yield an invaluable return. We want to know how did you/ how do you plan to fund your educational journey? What concerns do you have, if any, surrounding securing funding? Do you have any suggestions or know of any funding opportunities we’ve missed? Please include your plans, concerns and suggestions in the comments below! Also be sure to tune in to our next podcast, as we will elaborate on our own journeys toward funding the doctoral process!
