Finish Your PhD or Doctorate with Money from Grants

Just Say "No" to Student Loans

By the time you reach your Doctoral degree you will have seriously tapped your savings. In combination with other forms of financial aid make student Doctoral grants a part of your education strategy. Consider your main concerns when shopping for extra grant funding:

Do you have large amounts of research left to conduct?
Do you have any travel plans for which you need funding?
Do you need straight-up tuition assistance?
Do you qualify as an ethnic minority studying in an under-represented area?

These questions will help you identify specific areas in which you might seek additional grant funds. Research and travel grants are fairly common for students pursuing their doctorate degree. While these grants may not meet all of your financial needs they can help to defray costs and get you back to focusing on your studies.

Let's take some time to explore the best sources or grant programs targeted at students working toward their PhD and Doctorate degree.

Government Sources for Doctoral Student Grant Money

Don't assume that government sources only provide free college money to undergraduates. Federal and state governments are providers of various types of grants and fellowships that could fit your needs. You must be thorough and motivated to succeed in routing out all the funding opportunities. A few examples to get your juices flowing, include:

The U.S. Department of Education and the Federal government offer financial aid programs that go beyond the needs of undergraduates. Federal and state governments provide various types of grants and fellowships designed to benefit graduate and post graduate degree seekers. If you've come this far in your higher education now is the time to re-double your motivation and search out all the funding opportunities available to you.

Here are a couple of examples of grant programs that are designed to benefit graduate and post – graduate students:

The Fulbright Grant program is one of the largest and most respected educational exchange programs in the world. Since it's inception in 1946 the Fulbright program has encouraged and developed exceptional students from around the world by giving them the resources to study or conduct research abroad. Fulbright grants are offered in a variety of disciplines including humanities and the arts, social sciences, mathematics and the natural and physical sciences.
The Federal TEACH or Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education grant program is open to graduate students pursuing their doctorate in education studies. In exchange for a term of service in a high need low income elementary or secondary school applicants are awarded grant monies to help them complete there doctorate programs.

The U.S. Government's Student Aid on the Web site is a good tool to use when searching for Federal grants for you graduate studies. Many Federal agencies such as the EPA, the Justice Department and the National Science Foundation offer grants to qualifying students to enable them to complete their graduate and doctorate studies.

Doctoral Grant Money from Your University

Many universities offer grant and fellowships for students enrolled in their doctoral or PhD programs. These programs provide much needed financial aid in return for research and/or teaching assistance. Many of these fellowships are decided on the basis of gender, ethnicity and financial need. Be sure to check with your university for research grants and fellowships in your field of study for which you may be qualified.

Private Sources

Professional associations in the sciences, healthcare, education and many more fields are prime sources for student aid. Many of these aid packages are based on area of study, ethnic background or gender. Besides tuition assistance for professional members and student members, keep in mind that these are also excellent sources for research grants and travel grants.

The Geological Society of America awards annual research grants to students pursuing their masters or doctoral studied in the geological science fields. The program is open to students attending accredited universities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation annually administers the Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant in Women's Studies to qualifying female students attending an accredited U.S. University.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation sponsors the Guggenheim Fellowships to Assist Research and Artistic Creation which are designed to encourage graduate studies in all aspects of the humanities and liberal arts.

These few examples of private sourced grants and fellowships available to graduate students should give a good indication of the diversity of fields and disciplines for which financial aid is available. A little research and detective work will uncover a vast array of privately funded graduate and post graduate fellowships and grants available to students studying in a diverse number of disciplines.