5 Ways to Fund Masters Degree in the UK

Do you want to complete your masters in the UK? That’s great—so what’s holding you back? If I were to guess, I’d say probably the funding. If that’s the case for you, in this guide you’ll find 5 ways to fund masters in the UK.

Let’s play a game. Try to guess the amount of funding available for scholarships. Is it £100,000,000? Or maybe £1,000,000,000? Still not close enough. The approximate number of scholarships available every year for international students is 15.6 billion euros (which is equivalent to 13.46 billion pounds). Guess what, that value is available for international students who have their eyes set on schooling in European institutions.

What does this tell us? This means that funding shouldn’t be the reason why you were unable to achieve your dreams. There are a lot of scholarships available in different countries for international students who wish to study in those countries. Asides from scholarships, there are several other ways through which you can fund your dreams of bagging a master’s degree in a foreign country.

With the current competition in the job market today, having an undergraduate degree alone is great, but it doesn’t cut it. That’s why many people undergo postgraduate education. Although postgraduate education increases your chances of being employed, obtaining one may not be easy. That’s why many international and domestic students seek scholarships and other sources of funding to avoid going into debt immediately after graduation.

If you have your eyes set on the UK, then you are in luck. Because in today’s guide, we’ll be looking at 5 ways to fund masters degree in the UK.

What’s the Cost of Studying in the UK?

The cost of doing your masters in a European university is not a single expense but a cumulative expense of both the tuition fee and the cost of living.

Tuition fees

For a bachelor’s degree program, the tuition fee ranges between £15,000 and £30,000 for international students and the tuition fee for international students who want to complete their masters in the UK lies approximately between £20,000 and £40,000.

Average UK master’s degree fees

Cost of living

The cost of living in the UK for international students is averaged at £15,000 per annum.

Average monthly cost of living in the UK

5 Ways to Fund Masters Degree in the UK

1. Graduate School Scholarships

Do you know that there are lots of scholarships and grants available for international students who want to pursue their postgraduate degrees? Well, now you do.

One way to go about getting a graduate school scholarship is by first enrolling on a program before visiting the school’s financial aid department to ask for information about scholarships to your department or course and how to go about applying for one.

To save yourself from the frustration of not being able to find a suitable scholarship for your course or department, you should first visit graduate funding websites like gograd.org or scholarship-search.org.uk, where you can search for funding based on the degree level and course. This way you’ll be sure that there’s a postgraduate scholarship available for your chosen course or department before enrolling on one.

2. Research Grants

Research grants are among the top 5 ways to fund masters degree in the UK for international students. Grants are similar to scholarships but they are a bit more specialized and require more effort to acquire; but if you happen to get one, you’ll enjoy the added benefit of counting towards career development, especially if you plan to enter the research or academic line.

Just like graduate scholarships, you can also start from your institution. You can look for projects or research grants that are aimed at your degree. Many departments in the UK have grant funding for graduate students to enable them to complete specialized training, purchase necessary supplies or equipment, or travel for research.

Another way to go about it is by asking your professors or advisors because they too may already have or may be applying for funding and when approved will require research assistants. Also, you can use the internet to discover subject- or course-based grants.

3. Assistantships and Fellowships

Many European universities offer free or reduced tuition to graduate students who agree to carry out assistant duties or perform research during their studies.

Among the 5 ways to fund masters degree in the UK, this is one of the overlooked ways because it increases your responsibilities while undergoing your studies but if you look at it from the bright side you’ll realize that assisting with research or teaching will be valuable to you after you have completed your degree.

While researching for assistantship opportunities, go for smaller, lesser-known programs because the competition for positions might not be as stressful and the quality of scholarship is just as prestigious.

4. Student Prizes

Student prizes are given to students who perform a specific task or achieve a specific goal during their studies. The prizes usually come with a certain amount of money and even though the sum is technically not enough to support your studies, it can still be considered financial aid.

Students’ prizes are one-time rewards and the amount earned usually falls in the range of a couple of hundred euros to several thousand euros.

Student prizes can be given for the following reasons:

• Academic achievements
• It can be awarded based on the results of public examinations and coursework
• For writing the best paper in a wide range of subject areas
• For rewarding outstanding work submitted for thesis or examination, dissertation, and the overall performance
• You can win a prize and also get a scholarship for the next year or you can receive the title of a scholar if you are about to graduate

5. Charities and Trusts

Different types of organizations are interested in helping with promoting new research and training in specific fields and if you are a talented graduate, then you just might fit the persona they are looking for.

However, grants from charities are usually small and fall in the range of £100 to £1000 on average. But that shouldn’t deter you from combining different funding from different charities to cover your costs.

There you have it! There goes our list of the top 5 ways to fund masters degree in the UK.