Grants And Scholarships For Masters In History Students
If you enjoy learning about the past, a degree in history can be a great education option for you. Many jobs in this field, especially if you hope to earn a higher salary, require at least a master’s degree. However, paying for five to six years of school can be expensive. How can you pay for your education? Let’s take a look at financial aid options specifically for history students in master’s degree programs.
Grants for Attaining a Masters in History
Grants at the master’s degree level are sometimes used for tuition and related bills, but they might also be eligible to used for research projects that you hope to complete during the course of your education. Grants are able to help history majors who can show financial need. As an undergraduate history major, you might have been eligible for the federal Pell Grant, and even though this grant is no longer open to you as a master’s degree student, other grants are available. Because you will enter a Master’s program with an undergraduate degree, you immediately enter back into academia with at least some qualifications. Some organizations that regularly offer grants for history majors include:
- American Historical Association
- American Museum of Natural History
- Smithsonian Museums
- United States Department of Education
Masters in History Scholarships
Like grants, scholarships can help fund your education and they don’t have to be repaid when you graduate, as is the case with student loans. At the master’s degree level, you should search for both scholarships and fellowships, just to keep as many options available as possible. Both are given based on merit rather than financial need, so even if you don’t meet qualifications for grants, you might meet qualifications for scholarships and grants. Fellowships are like scholarships, though in most cases they require you to take on certain responsibilities, such as serving as a teaching assistant at your college. It’s a great way to pay for school, but more importantly unlike scholarships, which just give you money, fellowships give you real experience to move forward with and graduate with your Master’s and experience. Some scholarships and fellowships available specifically for history majors are from the following organizations:
- Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library
- James Madison Foundation
- National Foundation for Women Legislators
- National Science Foundation
In addition, most colleges offer scholarships and fellowship directly to students in their history departments, so ask your college’s financial aid director or the director/chair of the history department for more information on scholarships and fellowship that could be available to you.
As a history major, it’s commonly understood that progressing past an undergraduate degree is needed a majority of the time, largely due to the lack of specificity. A Master’s degree provides the increased refinement to get a variety of jobs and because of this, a number of organizations are willing to provide financial aid. Since Master’s degrees also enable those who attain them to get higher wages, financial aid opportunities are commonly presented to them.
While we’ve looked at some of the different ways to approach getting grants and scholarships for pursuing a Master’s degree, it’s important to remember that a combination is likely the most pragmatic method for approaching this. Not only does it avoid putting “all your eggs in one basket,” but also gives you flexibility. Since graduate school is expensive, it’s highly unlikely that you will be awarded enough scholarships to cover tuition outright, even if you were an incredibly decorated student in undergraduate studies. Attaining small scholarships, along with a fellowship, and ultimately supplementing it with loans is a good way to not overload your schedule with work, classes, and research simultaneously while chasing your dreams.
