Postgraduate study is more popular than ever before. There are over half a million students in the UK currently studying for a Masters, PhD, PGCE, MBA, or equivalent.
The difficulty, of course, is paying for it. The costs are daunting: fees for a full-time home student for 2011/12 will be at least £3,500, and three times that if you’re from overseas. Independent maintenance for a year – housing, food, utilities, study expenses – will probably be at least another £10,000. The withdrawal of Government subsidy into higher education has made scholarships from universities or research council extremely difficult to get. Less than one postgraduate in ten manages to obtain one.
Our message is that there is an alternative, and that’s from the voluntary sector: the thousands of charities and trusts out there which will fund students. Most of us generally think in terms of giving, rather than applying to charity, but they are all around us, helping good causes where they find them. One such good cause is your postgraduate study.
Charities are sometimes quite obscure, traditional and funded by ‘old money’. But rest assured, there will certainly be dozens who will consider sponsoring you, whatever your course, university, or background, and whether you want the money for fees, maintenance, and research expenses.
But because charities are so different from ‘conventional’ funding sources, they require a unique approach: that’s where The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding comes in. It will take you through identifying charities, finding them, and applying strongly. Now in its third edition, The Alternative Guide has helped thousands of students unlock the funding power of charities, selling over 100,000 copies.
We are still students ourselves, and we’ve won 55 charity awards between us. We’ve worked with dozens of postgraduates who have gone on to gain funding using our techniques. With the Alternative Guide, some hard work – and a flash of your own creativity – we have no doubt that you can too.
