Which scholarships could you apply for to help fund your masters? How much can you get and when should you apply? Read on to find out about innovative ways to fund your masters.
Why apply for funding?
Most masters’ courses cost a lot more money than students can afford, so it’s useful to investigate opportunities to get funding from as many sources as possible. In addition, it can look great on your CV that you have been granted funding.
A quick guide to the funding process
Each year millions of pounds are delegated to students through scholarships, grants and bursaries. The criteria for the different funders varies. For example, it could be a scholarship for those who are seeking a specific profession, or for those who are looking for continuous education. It`s all about finding the correct sources to support your education based on the criteria that are relevant for you.
First, to get you starting to understand the funding landscape, a glossary of the different terms of financial funding that are non-repayable:
A scholarship is an amount of money an applicant may receive from a foundation or authority for a particular purpose. They’re often designed as financial aids for students to continue their education, and may have different criteria depending on the purpose and founder.
A bursary is an award from an institution to individuals or groups that may not be able to afford full fees. These may be awarded in addition to scholarships and one can apply to both scholarships and bursaries simultaneously.
A grant is awarded to students as a gift to individuals wishing to pursue higher education. Different from scholarships, grants are provided from institutions or groups of people for a specific study discipline and are often merit-based.
Read more about grants, scholarships and bursaries at – https://www.gov.uk/browse/education/student-finance
Prizes are given to encourage innovation and granted to students achieving academic excellence.
A stipend is a fixed sum of money paid periodically to cover expenses. This can be in form of a salary for student expenses during their study.
These are just some of many more opportunities. It’s important to try to search for non-repayable funding, but remember postgraduate loans are also available. Get more information about applications for postgraduate loans here.
I wish to apply for funding – now what?
Apply early – there are many different scholarship databases available online such as; Scholarship-search, FindAMasters, Prospects, Family Action, Postgraduate Studentships amongst others, but grants are limited and very competitive, so apply early to maximise your chances of getting these!
Crowdfunding is a new way of collecting money, based on received donations. This is usually done online through websites such as Crowdfunder, GoFundMe, Hubbub, Indiegogo and Kickstarter. Through these online websites you can present your idea and it`s then up to you to utilise your networks, and others outside of it who might be interested, to convince them to contribute. Keep in mind that this is not an easy approach to use in order to fund your Masters, and you’ll need to do a lot of planning in order to run a successful campaign. The Guardian and Prospects both have pieces about how you can make a success of it.
Swipe left and right with the GrantFairyApp – An innovative app is on the market, claiming to make it simple for students to search for tailor made funding, through an app that matches their profile to thousands of UK scholarships and grants. Learn more by downloading the app or visit their website.
Find more than one funding source – contact King’s for more questions about fees and funding. Applying for funding can be time consuming and a full-time job in itself. With help and support from King’s outstanding resources you may be surprised at the options available for you.
Take the chance of applying for funding and trust yourself that hard work will be paid off! And remember, funding is not only targeted at education. It is possible to apply for money to attend a conference, language course and is not limited to other art and culture related projects.
Written by Seyran Khalili, postgraduate student in Psychosis Studies and Marketing Assistant at King’s Careers & Employability.