Financial Planning Tips

The relatively short time you spend in graduate school is a long-term investment in your future. It opens doors for your professional path, advances your leadership skills, and increases your earning potential. Following are some tips to help you understand the financial planning needed for your graduate school investment.

Find Early Deadlines

Begin your plan with a timeline. Look not only for upcoming Harris Application Deadlines, but also the deadlines of other funding options, such as third-party scholarships. You will also want to account for the wait time for loan approval.

Some funding opportunities require you have an acceptance letter at the time of scholarship application. We recommend submitting your UChicago Harris application earlier in the year to increase your external funding opportunities. 

Determine Your Budget

Learn the total cost of your education. When selecting a graduate school, you should not only factor in the tuition and student fees, but also the cost of living.

Generate an estimate percentage or dollar amount you plan to use of savings, scholarships, and loans. UChicago Grad Office offers a helpful resource on Budgeting Tips.

Explore All Your Options

Students use a combination of different funding sources in their investment. Follow the links below for details on each option.
 

• University Scholarships & Fellowships: The University of Chicago provides options from merit-based scholarship to fellowships with stipends.
• Third-party funding: There are many external, third-party scholarships based on career goals, policy areas, citizenship, affiliations, and more.
• Loans: Students should also consider a variety of different borrowing opportunities if they are looking for assistance paying for expenses that may not be covered by scholarships or personal funds.
• Employment & Work-study: Many students elect to work on-campus or off-campus during their degree to contribute to their living expenses and further build their resume.
• Employer Sponsorship: Check with your employer for potential professional or education sponsorships.

Understand the Investment.

A master’s degree from UChicago Harris can be the step you need to advance or pivot professionally. There are three invaluable factors to consider when applying for a UChicago Harris degree:

• The skills you need to be successful in your chosen field. A degree from The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy provides you with a versatile, well-rounded toolkit from a globally renowned university. In this video, alumni discuss how their degrees have opened doors and prepared them to make an impact on public policy in a wide range of jobs around the world.
  
  
   
• Increased earning potential. You will find immediate return on your investment after graduation with an increased earning potential. In a recent alumni survey, within 10 years of graduation, 52% of Harris alumni are filling senior or executive roles.
  
  Learn more about salaries and roles our alumni find after graduation in our Career Outcomes Report.
   
• The UChicago alumni network. As you continue to grow professionally, you will find continuous advantages of your UChicago training and robust network. Watch this video of alumni speaking to the value of the UChicago Harris network.
  
   
   

  “I’m impressed by the breadth and depth of the careers of my classmates, and I value them in my network.” —Rita Gao, MPP’04