Financial Aid FAQs U.S. Citizens
Scholarships
Does the Heller School offer any scholarships to students?
We do our best as a program to award generous partial tuition scholarships to admitted students to help defray the overall costs of our programs. We rely on students to use our offer of a partial tuition scholarship and search for outside funding opportunities to account for the rest.
What happens to Heller scholarships during the second year of the Master’s SID program?
Your partial tuition scholarship is for the first year of the Master’s program. If you choose to participate in our advanced study program during your second year (this provides a second year of academic course work), your award will be automatically renewed for the second year. If you opt for the internship track during your second year, the University will not charge full tuition. There is a continuation fee, which is significantly lower than full tuition, and we therefore do not provide any scholarships. Please refer to our cost of attendance sheet for more detailed information.
What alternative funding opportunities are available?
We strongly encourage you to look into other outside scholarship opportunities from organizations such as the World Bank, Fulbright, the Ford Foundation, or the American Association of University Women (among others). We maintain a list of outside scholarship opportunities to assist you in your search for supplemental funding. Please note that the list is not comprehensive, and that there are most likely additional opportunities that exist of which we are not aware. Use it only as the beginning of a broader and more comprehensive search.
Work/Study
What are my options for working while enrolled in my program?
Many students do work while they are enrolled in one of our programs. However, work study is not available to students at the graduate level as a form of financial aid. Many of our students do find some kind of campus employment, but these positions are not available to a student until s/he is on campus and registered as a full-time student. There is an Office of Student Employment that lists both on and off campus job opportunities that you can search.
Can I work as a teaching assistant?
Most of our teaching assistant positions are available to students after their first year in the program. After a year of coursework, professors have a better sense of their students and can think about suitable options for teaching or research assistantships.
What effect will paid employment have on my loans?
You are allowed to work and be paid without having that amount deducted from your cost of attendance. The only monies that are deducted from your cost of attendance (and therefore decrease your loan eligibility) are funds that are processed through the university, such as scholarships and loans.
