Poll: how did you pay for grad school?

[Pibs]

PharmD.

Almost completely loans, with a couple of small scholarships in there. We paid interest every month from the beginning though. My next payment is the one that gets me out of six figures. *sigh*  Oh, and of the loans are from pharmacy school.  I didn't have any undergrad debt going in -- we were able to pay that out of pocket.

[boiler717]

PharmD. Scholarships (I had full tuition for 4 years) and my parents provided the rest of tuition and my living expenses. I didn't have a real job until graduating grad school.

[Wanderista]

Got a Master's in a political science specialty. I really enjoyed it but I don't know if it was the wisest course of study. It was at a school with a great reputation though. Paid with - still paying for - it with loans. Fun times, indeed.

I loved the experience and if money were no object I'd spend more time buried in academia.

[FrozenSunshine]

I got an MBA from an a state school. Employer paid 50% of books and tuition (with no commitment to stay with them.) I paid the rest out of pocket. Now H and I did this adventure together and figured out if two sets of text books were necessary.

[jennybee1018]

I have an MS in Professional Leadership, with a concentration in Training & Development.

I was working at my alma mater, and part of the employee benefit was that they paid 95% tuition for graduate school. So I was lucky enough to have the majority of it paid for by work. Best thing I ever did!

[stretchad]

I have an MBA from a top 20 school. I paid for it with combo of fellowships, a graduate assistantship, and student loans. DH worked full time, so living expenses were covered with his salary.

I had to finance about half of my tuition/expenses and the fellowships/assistantship covered the rest.

[sessy]

Scholarship that covered tuition and loans for the rest

[tacom]

Research assistant/scholarship award
Boyfriend/Fiancé*
Small subsidized loan

*i will admit this does look more outrageous to me now than it seemed then. But we just *kneeeew* we wanted to get married and the alternative was taking on high interest unsubsidized loans that would accrue interest monthly during my program

[Deleted]

Masters was 100% employer paid. They even paid books. I went to a school that was $20k a year. Now it looks like most employers won't cover over $7500. It really stinks. I have a young engineer who works for me that would like to go back to school but it's cost prohibitive.

[foodiemom]

I started the program paying myself/loans but after first semester I was awarded a research position that paid for the rest of my 2 years there. Husband (boyfriend at the time) covered living expenses as we lived together and he worked full time. I got out of grad school with about $8k in loans which was lucky as I had taken out about $40k for undergrad :-(.

[spunkarella]

For a MAcc: My state allowed students to defer undergrad graduation and use a state scholarship (HOPE) to pay tuition for grad classes but my year was the last year before they changed the rules. So I did that, had a grad assistantship, and a grant through my state Department of Labor. The assistantship and grant were enough for living expenses. My grad year was way cheaper than undergrad.

[rbp]

PhD. Mix of teaching assistantship, research assistantship, and teaching fellowship. I don't make enough money to justify paying OOP.

[irishbride2]

1st: city of Baltimore paid
2nd: my parents

[LoveTrains]

I have an MA. I worked full time at the university I attended - in an unrelated field to my MA in a professional administrative type job - and got tuition remission. I went part time and it took me 4 years to complete a 2 yr program.

[Poppy]

Family support + inheritance + working (retail + babysitting + internship) throughout

[dr.girlfriend]

Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I got free tuition and had a teaching assistantship for living expenses, but my parents paid my rent for me. I'm really grateful to them, thanks to them I graduated with no student loans whatsoever. They paid for my undergrad too.

[matildasun]

My employer paid 75%. I paid 25% to the college directly.

[anna7602]

I went PT and paid for one course at a time for a while. When we were a little more flush (I was married already), I eventually doubled up on classes to finish up. One summer, I took a leave of absence from work and borrowed money from DH's new employer to cover a bunch of credits.

[nsl]

MA: small inheritance from my grandmother plus savings allowed me to pay cash

MS: (in progress) H's GI Bill is paying for pretty much everything--yay for sacrificing my entire adult life thus far to the whims of the Army.

[CheeringCharm]

I received a sweet scholarship that paid for more than half of it then I paid for the rest through loans. 

[sunshineluv]

MBA - Student loans, and a very small graduate assistantship stipend. I took out loans for everything.... housing, food, everything.

[lishie]

I had a 2/3 tuition scholarship for law school. I paid the balance and for my living expenses with a combo of work and loans.

[snowflurry]

Law school - took out loans to cover all expenses; paid them off earlier this year, 10 years after graduating (also paid off undergrad loans at the same time)

[boston340]

I'm working on my MBA right now (I have 2 classes left). Employer paid 42% and I'm paying 58% as I go.

[protozoa]

MS

Tuition paid through a combo of employer reimbursement and out of my pocket (maybe 60/40).

I was making a modest new grad salary most of the time I was getting my master's so I lived at my Dad's for about 3 years rent free, which made it possible for me to finish with no loans. Also my program was much more affordable back then ('03 - '06).

[mbcdefg]

Answering for MH (I have a B.A., he has a master's): 

He got a graduate assistant job at the campus athletic center. He also acted as manager of one of the campus media clubs (at our school you received tuition reimbursement at the end of the year if you were on the executive board of the student council, or if you were head of the newspaper/radio station/yearbook). The tuition that needed to be paid up front was paid from his PT job/savings. 

He actually wound up clearing money!

[awkwardpenguin]

I have an MS. I got a scholarship that covered 75% of out of state tuition at a large state university. I paid for the rest with a combination of loans and savings.

[MrsE]

My previous employer paid for it. I am very thankful for that opportunity.

[mrsd2006]

I have an MBA. I put it on my credit card- this was in the late 90s. We were on the quarter system, so I only took a couple of classes at a time and worked full time to keep it paid off. It took me four years to graduate but I wasn't in a rush anyways.

[drloretta]

As a bio PhD candidate, I got a stipend to attend