Students at every academic level understand the importance of securing financial aid-and, in the midst of rapidly increasing enrollment figures, such assistance is ever tougher to find. In today's highly competitive scholarship market, being smart doesn't always equal being paid, and unless you want to spend what should be the first exciting years of your career staggering under a pile of debt, student loans aren't always the most desirable solution either.
So what else is out there?
Believe it or not, intelligent students get millions of dollars in funding every year through fellowships, assistantships, and internships. The trick is in knowing how to differentiate between the various types of aid, deciding on those for which you qualify, and finding out which ones are commonly awarded within your discipline.
Fellowships
A fellowship is a special educational reward-usually given by an institution, a government agency, or a private organization-to students who exhibit remarkable academic and personal achievement. Fellowships are most commonly associated with independently conceived academic endeavors that involve extensive research and preparation; fellowships are especially helpful in such scenarios, alleviating living costs for students while they oversee an important project.
Medicine is a good example of an academic discipline wherein fellowships prove extremely advantageous (not to mention competitive!). Some fellowships can support an aspiring physician for up to five years while he or she conducts research and presents reports on a specialized subject.
Assistantships
Graduate students, with their equally expansive work and academic histories, are usually the target recipients of assistantships. Assistants are paid a stipend in exchange for part-time work they perform on university campuses.
In disciplines like engineering and software development, where the curriculum must constantly change with evolving technology, assistantships are more abundant as a rule, but the career development centers at most major U.S. schools offer a wide variety of opportunities for students who desire to contribute to the organization while simultaneously receiving a valuable financial reward.
Internships
Internships are the most common of the three types of funding discussed here, and they are not only offered but required by an overwhelming number of disciplines in higher education-both on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students are given a usually one-time opportunity to work in a professional setting under the leadership and supervision of a professional in their field.
While some internships are not reimbursed monetarily, most students value them more for the incomparable work experience they provide. Within many graduate programs (including legal and medical studies), internships are so competitive that students begin positioning for them from the moment they are accepted into their program.
The search for financial aid often reveals many more options that initially meet the eye, but the hunt can be long and tiresome. Utilize the resources available within universities' student services departments, and once those are exhausted, solicit representatives of successful business. Your determination can convince even captains of industry that they have the most to gain by seeing you through to the end of a successful education.
By Hannah Roberts, staff writer
