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Scholarships for Masters Degree
For many students that are returning to school to complete their Master's degree there is a lot of financial pressure, especially if they have families and are working only part time hours and attending school full time. For some programs working is not an option given the huge time demands on the students, so finding the greatest number of scholarships and other financial aid programs possible is very important. Graduate student scholarships are fairly plentiful although typically they are going to range in award from several hundred to a few thousand dollars. There are very few true "full scholarships" at the Master's level unless an employer is providing this type of funding. Under those types of situations, which do occur relatively often, the employer does require a commitment of a set amount of time after graduation that the employee agrees to continue to work for the business, company or organization. Some of the most common scholarships of this kind occur in education, medicine and technology based professional fields.
If you are a student enrolling in a Master's level degree program and are also a minority, there are several different options for scholarships to consider. The Gates Millennium Scholars Program provides up to 1000 scholarships per year for students of African American heritage at both the masters and undergraduate level. Scholarship awards are based on financial need, demonstrated academic ability and an interest in leadership within the community. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) offers an annual scholarship for graduate and undergraduate students attending a college or university that is partnered through HACU. Native American students at the Master's level also have several programs to select from that offer graduate scholarships. These include the Catching The Dream Scholarships which can be applied to tribal leadership, business, economic, legal or social issues. The scholarships are granted to any Native Indian students and can be used in any accredited, United States based university or college. The student must be at least 1/4 Native American and will need to be attending full time.
Women also have specific Master level scholarships available to them. Many of these scholarships are offered through professional women's associations or are memorial scholarships from women in business or that were leaders within a particular field of education. One such organization is The Sunshine Lady Foundation, and they offer a scholarship for women that are working to achieve their Master's level program in any field of counseling, training or support of women. The Scholarship for Young Women can be granted to either graduate or undergraduate women and is offered through the Third Wave Foundation.
Regardless if you are a minority or a woman, there are still a large number of scholarships and grants available through the Federal Government for Master's degree education. One avenue to consider is the Boren Graduate Fellowships, designed for those students completing graduate studies that are preparing to work within the government. If you are already working in a profession such as nursing there are several grants such as the American Cancer Society Scholarship for those interested in reaching their Master's degree in cancer nursing.
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