Living Expenses in Grad School

[MoneyCntByLuv]

So I'm going back to school, full-time for 2 years (yay), but I only have about $4,000 in savings (boo, after 3 yrs of working too, so pitiful). So, I'm definitely taking out loans to pay for tuition, but what about 2 years worth of living expenses? I've been told that my program this fall is pretty intense and they don't recommend taking on a part-time job. But what do I do, just take out loans for living expenses? That's almost as much as tuition! By my calculations, that adds an extra $24K over 2 years to the amount of money I'm taking out.

I'm interested in what some others have done or how they feel about loans for living expenses. (the program i'm starting is a 2 yr master's in nursing program)

[cheshrcarol]

If you can't work, your only choice will be to borrow the money. Either from the gov't or from family (if that's an option). I'm a grad student and did both.

My cousin got a master's in nurse anesthesiology, which pays very well and makes up for the fact that he had to take out quite a bit in loans. Hopefully your program will too? The only thing you can do to offset it is try and eliminate as many expenses as you can - live w/roommates, take public transportation instead of owning a car, etc. But $12k/year sounds pretty low already.

[Phenomenon]

I had to take out loans for both part of tution and living expensives as an undergrad as my family was unable to make any contribution. I also plan on taking loans for tution and living expensives for grad school as I have no savings and cannot find a job, so I guess you do what you have to do. I will probably die in debt, but at least I'm going to get to a better place than where I am now.

[winneythepooh7]

You can take out loans. Also, I have found that a lot of graduate programs are changing to accommodate real people who need to work, especially in areas of high COL. I got my Master's in Social Work and my school had a program like this, where you could use your job as your field work piece.

[NayUCLA]

what about a teaching assitantship? i'm looking forward to loans. plus by being a TA my tuition is covered for the year. worth looking into if your school offer the option. likewise, as much as i hate to say this, apply for every scholarship known to man.

[winneythepooh7]

For social work, if you work in many agencies for at least one year, and sign a contract that you will work at their agency for like 2-3 years post grad, they will pay for your degree. Even at private schools. That may be worth it to quite a few people. I would've stayed on board at a previous agency if I knew that back then.

[sdkolb]

So I'm going back to school, full-time for 2 years (yay), but I only have about $4,000 in savings (boo, after 3 yrs of working too, so pitiful). So, I'm definitely taking out loans to pay for tuition, but what about 2 years worth of living expenses? I've been told that my program this fall is pretty intense and they don't recommend taking on a part-time job. But what do I do, just take out loans for living expenses? That's almost as much as tuition! By my calculations, that adds an extra $24K over 2 years to the amount of money I'm taking out.

I'm interested in what some others have done or how they feel about loans for living expenses. (the program i'm starting is a 2 yr master's in nursing program)

I have been working for three years too, but dont have much in savings due to trying to pay off a car. I am going to grad school in the fall for OT and have also been told it is an intense program. I thought about finding some occassional babysitting jobs to make a little extra money. As far as loans, I took out as much as I could which leaves me about $14000 a year to spend on rent and other living expenses. It is going to suck, but I try to believe that everything will work out.

[steph78]

I had a teaching assistantship in grad school which covered my tuition, and it paid about $15000/year (before taxes) which went toward fees, books, and living expenses. This was in Atlanta (relatively low COL for an urban location) and it was about six years ago so I know inflation means that money wouldn't stretch quite as far as it did for me, but I found it pretty easy to cover all my expenses with that $15000 per year. Of course I wasn't doing a whole lot of shopping for fun, and I shared a 3-bedroom apt. with two other people, but I didn't feel totally poverty-stricken or anything.

[daisygrl]

I could use a teaching assistant job that would pay my expenses and help with my education. I will look into that and try to get something like that since I am in major debt with my student loans (http://www.nextstudent.com/) which I still need to pay off.