It’s widely known that graduate school is expensive. Whether or not you pay for it yourself, or find someone to pay for it through a grant or a sponsorship agreement; there are a whole raft of expenses that need to be paid. It can be difficult to actually pin down what the costs of a masters degree are. Given that an important goal for many students is to increase their earning potential over the course of their careers, understanding how much a masters degree will truly cost is important for working out whether further study is worth your while! In this context, considering the best affordable online colleges as an alternative for further education can also be a financially prudent move.
Below, we’re going to get you started in answering this all-important question, by summarising the main types of cost you’ll be likely to incur.
Universities charge tuition fees for their masters degrees – how much these fees are can normally be found on the course page. Different universities charge different students different rates: international students are often charged substantially more than students from the host institution’s country. Collegiate universities – like Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham – will charge college fees on top of the university’s fees, to pay for the services that the college provides. Universities will require proof that you have a source of income – such as a grant – or sufficient savings to pay for the fees you will incur.
Maintenance is the next major cost item for a masters. Maintenance includes all your living costs while studying – such as rent, food, recreation, insurance, clothing and so on. Students are often offered discounts by retailers, and are exempt from various classes of taxation, so this figure is unlikely to be as high as if you were in full-time employment, living in the same area. Information about the expected cost of living can be found on student websites. Universities will also require proof that you have a sufficient source of income or savings to cover the cost of maintenance for the duration of your degree.
Although you don’t need to provide proof of income or savings to cover these costs, there are some other things that can prove costly, and yet play an important role in your studies. These are:
The question of how much your graduate studies will cost overall is hard to answer here, as it really does depend on a myriad of factors. Your tuition fees, your maintenance, your travel costs, and materials – all will vary tremendously depending on the degree you are studying, the institution you are studying it at, where that institution is in the world and what your expected standard of living is. But with these items listed above, you’ll hopefully now know where to start – once you’ve identified some interesting masters degrees on MastersAvenue!
To learn more about funding options for further educaction in later life check this out.
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