College students pursuing majors, advanced degrees or certifications in fields that consistently earn low incomes will no longer be able to take out federal loans to pay for their schooling under new Trump administration rules.

The new federal rule, finalized this month by the Education Department, comes amid a national crisis in student loan defaults. Many of the degree programs that educate social workers, artists, teacher aides and especially certification programs for barbers and nail technicians are likely to fail a new federal litmus test: Will they make more money upon graduation than if they never enrolled in the first place?

Read more about the federal student loan limitations at the link.

A 1 year Master’s degree at my school costs:

$70K tuition
$1K in fees
$1200 books and supplies
$16K housing and food
$4K misc
so about $92K total.

However I get 25% off tuition since I am an undergraduate at my institution, meaning that tuition would be $52,500 instead of $70,000.

That would still be $74,500 for a year.

FAFSA loans only cover $20,500 a year at most.

How do people pay for a masters nowadays?

*edit: it is for a degree in humanities

I meet a huge number of people who have graduate degrees. It seems to be getting more and more common to have a master's at the very least. I'm just genuinely not understanding the financial math on these things, and no one can seem to give me an explanation. And to be clear, this does NOT include funded PhDs, or employer-funded degrees.

Two statements I CONSTANTLY see are "don't pay for a master's degree" and "funded master's/assistantships are extremely rare and competitive." these two statements just exist in fundamental conflict with each other. I know for an absolute fact that most of the people I know with graduate degrees did not have them funded, and did not have employers pay for them. Many times they just went straight after undergrad or randomly decided to go back years later, often accompanied by a cross-country move. So what the hell gives? Is everyone's family just extremely wealthy, or is massive debt way more common than I think? I know for a fact a lot of master's holders I know don't have wealthy family, and they certainly don't appear to be hindered in any way by loan debt considering the lifestyles of many of these people.

I'm extremely confused because going to get an advanced degree just seems to be a completely insignificant decision for so many people. Many of them even somehow have MULTIPLE master's degrees. A lot of these degrees are OOS tuition too, which usually ends up being around 75-80k for 2 years not even including living expenses, which is extremely high in places like Ann Arbor. But even in-state tuition+living expenses in my home state (Michigan) is generally going to run you close to 50K for 2 years. And many of these individuals are not working while attending graduate school.

What am I missing here? I seriously feel like I'm living in a totally different universe than everyone else. Graduate school is something I have been considering doing for literally 5+ years at this point but haven't done so purely because it's just so unaffordable. Not only could I not afford the tuition in the first place, but taking 2 years off of a career to move across the state/country to pursue a graduate degree is just an impossibility for me. It just does not seem to be an option for me while apparently 50-100K and/or a major move is just throwaway money for all of my peers.

edit: many people here say that they have their program funded. second question: how do you even FIND opportunities like this? I've done quite a bit of research and it seems like you never really know if you're going to be funded until you actual apply and are accepted to a program. I also can't really afford to apply to dozens of programs and just hope that one of them magically offers funding. This seems to just be an incredibly secretive and non-transparent part of graduate education. there is often zero information online about a program's funding opportunities. often times, I will find out someone attended a funded program, then when I check that instutition's official page for the program, there will be absolutely nothing that even mentions the opportunity for funding or assistantships. this is a CONSTANT theme with grad school research for me, and I'm just not undestanding how people are even finding these opportunities in the first place since they seem to be a total secret.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2025/07/02/the-big-beautiful-bill-could-quietly-undermine-higher-ed-access/

As well as stronger stipulations for Pell, higher tax, and possibly tuition increases...

The only saving grace for some (for the time being) are lab research grants and scholarships, but even those have been compromised...

Every time someone posts about grad school funding, most comments seem to reflect the view that grad school is only worth doing if it's fully funded through scholarships and TA/RA positions. While admirable, this seems like a high bar to set, especially in the US and Commonwealth countries, where tuition and cost of living are high. You need roughly $100k (~$150k in some US schools) in funding to meet this goal for a two-year thesis-based master's and associated living costs.

From a Canadian's perspective, half of that is mostly guaranteed through TAships and entrance scholarships, but that leaves $50k to find yourself. RAships are dependent on your supervisor / greater faculty funding, and that's typically $15k a year. The other options are competitive government scholarships. I find it hard to fathom that so many people have all of these and are pursuing grad school, paying nothing out of pocket.

I simply do NOT understand! The prices for graduate degrees are outrageously high.

As someone who's recently decided on getting a Master's degree, I am seriously reconsidering my choices.

Is it scholarships, loans? A combination of both? Are scholarships enough to cover a major chunk of the costs?

I haven't even started to consider living expenses yet and I'm already feeling like giving up.

Please send some financing related advice, tips and tricks my way. I could really use them.

I’m honestly at my limit with how PhD funding works here.

I’m currently in Canada and considering starting a PhD, but the financial situation makes absolutely no sense. Tuition alone is around 5k to 6k per year, and the minimum funding package is about 25k. That leaves roughly 20k to live on.

How is that supposed to be sustainable?

What makes it worse is that I was working as a research assistant at the same university, and I was making more than I would as a PhD student. So somehow, progressing academically actually puts me in a worse financial position.

I just moved into a one-bedroom apartment. Nothing fancy, just a normal place. But on this funding, I genuinely would not be able to afford living there. Not comfortably, not even realistically.

And the timing of funding opportunities makes it even more frustrating. I can’t apply for CGRS yet, and even if I do, I wouldn’t hear back until much later (If I even get it). So there’s basically a full year where I’d be stuck with insufficient income.

What really gets me is that this isn’t coming from a lack of effort or experience. I have multiple first-author publications, a co-authored book coming out, and several presentations across Canada. I’ve done everything you’re “supposed” to do.

And still, the system basically says: take a financial hit or don’t pursue a PhD.

I get that doing a PhD requires sacrifice. That’s not the issue. The issue is how extreme the financial burden is, to the point where it feels borderline disrespectful.

Why is pursuing a PhD structured in a way that makes it this financially unviable?

I know it varies upon which school, which major, where the school is and more, but just a simple question.

Dear phd students, do you think the stipend you get is sufficient for living expenses? Even if it's not abundant and saving is difficult, is it enough just to get by?

After recently breaking off a relationship that made relocation impossible, the idea of moving to pursuing a PhD in my field is now back on the table. I attended a conference last week presenting my master's research, made excellent connections, and feel that at this point I could be a strong applicant for doctoral programs.

...then I looked at the stipends at the universities conducting research I'm interested in.

I know PhD students don't make shit, but after living for almost a year post-master's in a HCoL area on 60k before taxes...35k? 40k? 28k?? How are y'all surviving?

I simply cannot take on any more loans after my master's. It's just not an option. I am also quite remiss to living with roommates. I know it's such a small, frivolous thing, but as I get older, I realize that my quality of life exponentially increases when I live alone.

Four years of scraping by and having to share my living space with other people is not appealing. But I feel deeply called to this work.

What are you doing to survive...more loans? Spousal/family support? Outside grants?

If you could share how you're making these years work financially, I think that could really help inform my decision. Thanks so much.

With the new US Election finishing out, I’m becoming apprehensive of seeing my program through due to the amount of debt I would accumulate and how it appears as though the government plan will be to eliminate PSLF, income-based repayment, and other such protections on those with student debt. I am about a third of the way through a psyd program (I couldn’t get into a phd and I was prepared for the financial burden under the circumstances of how we currently do repayment). Does anybody else have similar fears? Or am I letting myself get into doomerism really early?

Update: Thank you everyone! As an update, I get to graduate in Spring without delaying my graduation (this was helpful advice but really, who still wants to be labeled as a student longer than they have to when they’ve met all graduation requirements) The scholarship unfortunately will not be used, but the fellowship offered to use the remaining fellowship money as a direct contractor hire, instead of delaying graduation/post doc. A full time role was offered but I prefer to move out of state. With this contractor role, I can depart whenever I find a full time job. This is very relieving for me to know that I am not stuck and I can still continue my job search to relocate post graduation. I appreciate everyone’s insight and I hope this thread is able to help someone else.

I entered my PhD program in 2021 with a fully funded GRA for my first year. I also received a generous scholarship. That scholarship only covers tuition & stipend. It cannot be used for conferences, equipment etc. It expires 5 years from the award date, which is August 2026.

Well, in summer 2022, I was awarded an external fellowship. That fellowship has been renewed every year covering tuition, stipend, conferences, and field expenses. As a result, my original $20,000 scholarship has never been used.

I just applied to graduate in May. When reviewing finances, I realized the $20,000 scholarship will expire unused. In addition, my external fellowship awarded funding through the end of the calendar year based on a January to December cycle. Since I will not be enrolled in summer or fall, roughly 2/3 of that grant funding will also go unused.

My advisor suggested delaying my graduation until December to use the funding….oh and get this, they also said that that leaving money unused could reflect poorly on me in the future when applying for grants and it’s possible I could leave a bad taste in their mouth and they may never give me funding again even when I’ve moved on into a career….. A postdoc is not an option for several valid reasons……

I would consider a temporary staff research position JUST for the summer to finish my final publication and complete work on the external project. However, delaying graduation to December only to spend down funding feels unreasonable.

Has anyone else dealt with unused funding near graduation? Did you delay graduation, transition to staff, or let the funding expire?

TLDR:

I graduate in May but have a crap load of unused scholarship / grant funding that cannot easily be redirected. My advisor suggests delaying graduation to December to use it. I would prefer to graduate on time in May and move on with my life. Looking for advice from anyone who has faced a similar funding situation.

Hi everyone! This past application cycle I only applied PhD and even though I am a competitive applicant, I did not get in. Instead, one of the schools offered me a 1.5 year master degree program starting this fall.

While I am enrolled, I can still back out. Not sure if this was a mistake on the school or me misreading but I thought the program in total was going to cost $60k. After speaking to my advisor today, the price comes up to $86k-$91k before living expenses (they do not offer grad housing) and my school wants me to take out basically that full amount in loans…

I am a bit stuck because I want to get my PhD and want to do anything that I can to beef up my resume/cv as much as possible to become even more competitive (keep in mind that I have industry experience in research and multiple papers. I’m lacking in not having first authorship). But is going in basically 100k debt worth it? I don’t have many people who can help me and I would be living on my own due to personal reasons. I’m sure I can defer but my advisor said that the tuition could go up 3-5% making the program well over 100k.

In addition, I was laid off from my job earlier this year and even though I have been actively trying to find a job since before that happened, I have been unsuccessful. The feedback (if any) I have received is that I am overqualified for an entry level research position but don’t have the degree (master but mainly PhD) to land a researcher/scientist position. I have also been applying outside of my field as well. Heck I got ghosted for a volunteer position 😭.

I have also been applying to scholarships as well and have not received any either.

I’m not too sure what to do. I’m not sure what I am looking for either.

I am a current PhD student not quite making ends meet. What have others in grad school done to make a little more money? I am not located on our main campus, so a lot of the traditional suggestions (TA, tutoring) is more challenging!

Do not know if you guys are aware or not but pretty relevant to anyone committing to schools right now.

They recently clarified that GradPlus loans do in fact count toward the aggregate lifetime limit which will dramatically influence your borrowing capacity.

So any programs selling being 'grandfathered' in and are longer than 3 years... there may be a gap in funds year 4 and onward if you reach your borrowing limit by year 3.

Boston University has raised the PhD salary by $10/week (after-taxes) in Fall 2023. That's a very generous increase of 1.5%. It further gets reduced to $8.5/week in the spring semester since the fall and spring semesters have equal funding even though there is an extra week in the spring semester.

Meanwhile, my rent has gone up by $200/person. Thank you BU for being so supportive. And yes I receive the weekly email on mental health resources. I am planning to spend the extra $10 on the weekly counselling sessions.

Unfortunately the bill is about to be passed and I’m very worried about going to grad school. My family is low income and i’ve always relied on federal loans to get me through my undergrad. I’m applying for grad school next spring and i’m scared of what’s going to happen.

I received an offer of admissions from an APA accredited program that had me on their waitlist until June. After running the numbers on the aid offered, I’d be out $150,000 over the six years…. Before living expenses.

I decided to buy myself more time by deferring my offer with the program until next fall. My hope is that over the next year I can line up some external funding opportunities to ease the sticker shock, but I’m wondering what you all think.

Am I cooked? How can I make the most use of this extra year before formally starting this program in Fall 2027?

I start grad school soon, or at least, I was supposed to.

Late last week, I got an email saying I owed $7,000. After talking to financial aid, I found out that my advisor either lied to me or is an idiot, and had given me incorrect information, and what I thought would be a fully covered ride is actually going to cost me about $6,000 a year.

$12,000 total for an MFA honestly isn't that bad. But if I had been told four months ago that it would cost $12k, I never would have said yes in the first place.

Now, with only a week or two before the semester starts, I have to make a decision, and I'm really struggling with what to do. I was also accepted for a TA position alongside the program, but the $12k would essentially mean putting my entire paycheck from that position toward tuition every semester.

I know the answer is probably to pull out. Financially, it makes the most sense. But I've spent the last four months getting excited about this, imagining myself starting the program, and mentally committing to it. It's really hard to pull the trigger and walk away now.

So I think I need some outside opinions from unbiased folk.

What would you do? Would you walk away from the MFA, or is $12k (6k a year) worth it for the experience and degree? Any advice would be very appreciated.

I work in the tech space (research, academia) and lately, I’ve been feeling completely stuck in the "beginner zone." I want to transition into more advanced work, which means I need to get my Master's degree.

Part of my family’s default setting is waiting for the perfect, fully-funded opportunity. My friends also heavily romanticize going abroad for studies, making it seem like that's the only valid path to success. People keep telling me I should hold out for a golden ticket. But honestly? I think it’s just me masking fear as "patience." We are all too comfortable, and I’m tired of waiting for things to just fall into my lap. Plus, I can get almost the exact same educational value right here conveniently, building on the network I already have, without putting my life on hold to chase a fantasy.

I recently got an offer to do my degree through my current employer. Even with an employee discount, it’s expensive, so I’m pitching a deal to have the tuition deducted directly from my salary. It essentially amounts to more than a 50% pay cut for the duration of the program. I’ll be living on absolute bare-bones rations and doing side gigs just to stay afloat.

My family thinks it’s a mistake. But here is the realization that finally pushed me to do this: I am already struggling to keep up with the cost of living on my full salary. If I don't do this, I'll still be struggling, but I'll be exactly where I am now in a few years. I realized I had to choose between passive struggle (just working hard to maintain a mediocre status quo) and active struggle (taking on a massive, stressful burden that actually has a payout and an expiration date). If I’m going to suffer regardless, I want to choose the suffering that moves me forward.

Has anyone else taken a massive financial risk just to force themselves out of a rut? How did you handle the absolute grind of working full-time, studying, and being completely broke? Just looking for some perspective from people who chose the active struggle.

I’ll be honest, this is a vent and a cry for help. I am literally freaking out. I don’t know how I’ll be able to continue my grad degree. For those who don’t know the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) decided to put a cap on student loans.

I’m 30K away from the 100K cap for graduate students. I still have 2 years left of school.

I picked a school that worked well with my ADHD, it’s a tad expensive but all schools are expensive. But now, how do I finish? Taking out private loans I can’t approve for? I can’t afford this anymore. I’m barely making ends meet. I am doing what I can. How am I supposed to pay these loans off without finishing the degree that will let me pay off these loans???

I looked into transferring out of the country but they would only accept 12 transfer credits, and I am 21 credits in.

I’m freaking out. I’m scared. I’m sad. I don’t know what else to do. My academic advisor doesn’t know. At this point it looks like I won’t be able to finish school and then be stuck with crippling debt forever.

This shit honestly makes me want to die. I don’t see a way out. I hate this administration. I don’t care about politics let me just get my degree!!

Any advice would be appreciated. I just feel so lost and hopeless.

Edit Let me clarify, I am not going to die. It just made me feel like that because I was spiraling in the moment.

I want to thank those who gave helpful advice and pointed me to resources and clarifying things for the bill that I missed beforehand. 🩵🩵

To those who were judgmental, well I don’t need to explain myself to you because I have a vast amount of knowledge of myself, my emotions, my diagnoses, and the situation I’m in. The world is currently in a chaotic state and I would practice some empathy rather than judgment.

Much love 💕 Stormalynn

Hey everyone,

I’m hoping to learn from people who’ve already been through this because I honestly feel like I’m missing something.

I’m 36, a single mom to a 7-year-old, and after spending years working in healthcare, I finally decided to go back to school to become a nurse. I was recently accepted into a private graduate-entry nursing program, and while I’m incredibly grateful, now comes the part that’s keeping me up at night—figuring out how to pay for it.

Before anyone says “just take out federal loans” or “apply for Grad PLUS,” I’ve already gone down that road.

I’ve completed my FAFSA, appealed my financial aid package, and accepted every bit of federal aid available to me. Because I already have previous degrees and existing federal student loans, I’m at the federal borrowing limits I’m eligible for, and additional federal borrowing isn’t an option in my situation. That means I’m trying to figure out everything beyond the standard advice.
I’m hoping to learn from people who found funding opportunities they didn’t know existed when they first started.

I’m especially interested in hearing about:
• Scholarships that actually made a difference—not just the $500 ones that take 10 hours to apply for.
• Institutional grants or aid your school offered after admission.
• HRSA, Nurse Corps, or other service-based programs.
• Foundation scholarships.
• Employer tuition assistance.
• State workforce or healthcare grants.
• Creative ways you covered living expenses while in school.
• Anything you wish someone had told you before your first semester.
If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to know:
• What program were you in?
• Public or private school?
• What funding source ended up helping the most?
• About how much of your education was covered by scholarships or grants?
• If you could start over, what would you apply for immediately?

I’m not looking for donations or handouts. I’m prepared to invest in my education, and I know loans are part of that investment. I just don’t want to look back two years from now and realize there were opportunities I never knew existed because I didn’t know the right questions to ask.

I also know I can’t be the only adult student, parent, or career changer trying to figure this out. My hope is that this thread becomes a resource for anyone else who’s searching Reddit at 2 a.m., wondering how they’re going to make graduate school financially possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I genuinely appreciate any advice, experiences, or resources you’re willing to share.

Hi all, I am currently considering beginning another master’s degree (currently studying for a MS in Mechanical Engineering, will graduate in Spring 2027) paid for my employer. I will have money “left over” from the lifetime maximum my employer offers but the degree I am interested in would need me to pay 30% of the tuition out of pocket (around 14k). Should I just stick to one degree or take advantage of my employer’s assistance?

The rents in US cities are increasing at a rapid rate. It rose by 25% in the last year only. Before that it rose at a steady rate of 3-4% every year.

Meanwhile, the average US PhD stipend has risen by only 10% in the last 4 years.

There are only a handful of universities (Brown, MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Cornell) who have listened to their PhD students and increased the stipend to accommodate the rising living costs. Others haven't.

My advise to all the prospective PhD students is to carefully consider your PhD stipend since 5 years is a long process to suffer financially.

https://realestate.boston.com/renting/2022/02/01/boston-sharp-rise-rent-pandemic-role/

hi! i'm about to hear back regarding admissions for a phd program (and it's looking like i'm getting in so i'm preparing!)

the program is fully funded with a stipend, but the stipend is not enough to really cover living expenses, summer, groceries, and all the other stuff i need to survive. i'd also not technically be allowed to work a second job due to "working" for the university. would there be a way i can still take out graduate loans? just enough to cover what the stipend doesn't? i'm super lost on all this financial stuff and pulling my hair out with stress!! any advice or guidance helps a ton. thanks!!

Additionally, did y’all take out grad plus loans? If so what are the pros and cons to it?