A few sought-after graduate programs provide total financial aid to students upon acceptance. In addition to the typical grants and loans you find in undergrad, financial support for graduate school also consists of working for your department as a Research Assistant (RA) or Teaching Assistant (TA). You will learn more about RAs and TAs later in this module.

Many recent graduates forego the pursuit of an advanced degree and look for employment as soon as possible in order to pay off their debts from undergrad. If you find yourself in this category, you may opt to go to graduate school part-time by finding employment with a corporation that offers tuition assistance programs as part of its benefits package. These programs allow employees to take courses and earn master's degrees at nearby colleges or universities while they advance their careers. Numerous corporations provide 100% assistance for tuition and fees for credit courses.

Some companies combine the tuition assistance benefit with a "front-pay" option that allows direct billing from the college to the corporation, eliminating the need for out-of-pocket expenses. Other companies allow employees to apply for up-front advances on 50 percent of tuition costs. Usually, classes must be taken during evenings or weekends to qualify for assistance. Some employers will pay you to continue your education, though they usually expect you to continue working for them after you complete your degree so they can recoup their investment. The classes will typically need to be pre-approved by the employer to ensure that they are in a degree program that will be an asset to the company.

Working first provides another option for financing graduate school: early distribution from your IRA account. The IRS does not apply the 10% tax penalty for withdrawal for higher educational expenses. See IRS publication 590 for specific information, and contact a tax accountant to investigate whether this is a good option for you.

If you belong to an ethnic group that is underrepresented in engineering and sciences, such as African Americans, American Indians and Hispanics, you can apply for additional sources of aid. You can apply for a fellowship or internship through GEM (the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc.) at one of the program's 88 participating universities, while getting work experience at one of the 68 GEM industries and government agencies. If you are a woman, you can apply for scholarships that are avilable through SWE (the Society of Women Engineers) or other organizations that support the education of women in engineering.

If, in addition to good grades, you have excellent GRE scores (say, above a 2000 composite), then you should consider applying for a national fellowship. There are a number of fellowship programs sponsored by the federal government, through the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, for example.