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Funding Your Graduate Education in Difficult Economic Times
Fellowships and Assistantships
On-Campus and Off-Campus Employment
Loans and Tuition Payment Plan
Special Information for International Graduate Students
Fellowships and Assistantships
- GW offers a range of merit-based support for graduate students—fellowships, teaching, research, and administrative assistantships, partial tuition awards, and the like. The availability of funding opportunities changes from year to year and sometimes from semester to semester, but will continue to offer at least as many of these financial awards in 2009-2010 as we offered last year. As each school and department of the University has a unique set of funding opportunities to offer, we advise you to consult with the graduate program of interest to you. The following websites provide specific departmental information for graduate student funding:
School name
- Grants and contracts support many graduate students, especially doctoral students, to do research with GW professors; inquire with your academic department and other related programs.
- Hundreds of external fellowship opportunities are available to support graduate study, dissertation research, language study, and the like by students who qualify for them based on merit and/or such characteristics as field of study or national or ethnic origin; see www.gwu.edu/~fellows/outside.html for more information. (You must get organized in advance, as deadlines for application are often months in advance of the arrival of funding.)
On-Campus and Off-Campus Employment
Please note that international students must seek advanced approval from the International Services Office (ISO) before taking any job.
- Many students help support their studies by securing full-time or part-time positions on campus—for example, as departmental administrative assistants, IT professionals, or research assistants or associates on professors’ grants. Positions classified as “regular” full-time or part-time include tuition funding as part of the benefit package (see Human Resources website, especially https://www.gwu.jobs).
- Other graduate students find hourly student worker positions either on or off campus. The Career Center website (http://gwired.gwu.edu/career/) provides suggestions for finding full-time and part-time jobs, as well as paid internships and co-operative education opportunities. Additionally, an online job listing system, GWork, is available to current GW students. While these positions carry no tuition benefits, they can help make ends meet and provide career-relevant training.
Loans and Tuition Payment Plan
- GW offers an interest-free, monthly payment plan that allows spreading the cost of a semester over five months (see http://colonialcentral.gwu.edu/billing/paying).
- The Office of Student Financial Assistance website (http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-g) provides information on the following federal and private educational loans available only to US citizens and permanent residents. The Office is extending its deadlines for spring loans to help students deal with unanticipated financial need; materials must be in by the next to the last week of the semester to meet federal requirements.
- Federal Stafford loans of up to $20,500 per academic year are available to US citizens and permanent residents for graduate study. Subsidized Stafford loans of up to $8,500 annually can be secured based on financial need; interest is paid by the government while a student is enrolled in school at least half-time. When an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan is taken in addition, the student is responsible for the interest that accrues on the unsubsidized loan while he or she is in school.
Visit http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-g/FederalStaffordLoan for more information.
- Students also have the option of seeking additional loan funds beyond the Stafford loans through either the Federal Graduate PLUS program or a private educational loan. These can cover the cost of education less any other aid, including Stafford loans, received. The Office of Student Financial Assistance website at http://gwired.gwu.edu/finaid-g has more information on these loan opportunities and how to apply for them.
- Students who have taken the maximum in Federal Stafford loans and still have unmet financial need may also be identified by GW as worthy recipients of special Graduate Financial Aid Grants; students are notified if they are selected. Work-study awards that support the employment of financially needy students in part-time student-worker positions are also available (see http://www.gwu.edu/~fellows/wkstdy.html).
- For current graduate students, the Office of Student Financial Assistance, located in Colonial Central in the Marvin Center, can make a 30-day, interest-free emergency loan available while classes are in session to any student registered at least half time. A student facing a short-term financial crisis can receive up to $600 by visiting Colonial Central.
Special Information for International Graduate Students
General information about graduate student funding available to international students, as well as links to useful external funding sources, are available on our website at:
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