Funding for business, management and finance postgraduate courses

If you're planning to take a postgraduate course in finance, business or management then you'll need to be able to manage your own finances. There is help available in the form of loans or grants and you could also consider other options such as working part time.

Unless your family owns half of Yorkshire, funding your postgraduate degree course will be a top priority and, unfortunately, it usually means continuing your dependence on baked beans. Postgraduate study incurs two main expenses: fees and the cost of living. Rest assured that courses do not come cheap, and depending on where you choose to study, rent prices can be fairly high too. But don't despair – there is help available in the form of loans or grants and most students now combine a number of these funding sources to finance their studies.

Your main options are:

• public funding bodies – the funding body for this field is the Economic and Social Research Council and they have a variety of scholarships available.
• institutional funding – if you undertake a graduate teaching assistantship (GTA) or graduate research assistantship (GRA) you will usually receive either direct payment or the waiver of your fees. Scholarships offered by open competition or through a scheme of quota awards to individual university departments are also available.
• professional and career development loans – available through an arrangement between the Learning and Skills Council and participating high street banks. Loans financed by NatWest are also available from the Association of MBAs.

Remember that competition for sponsorship or institutional funding can be tough, so it really does pay to do your research and investigate funding sources early in the final year of your first degree.

Other funding options

Another increasingly popular way to finance your study is to work part time. If you choose to work while studying your best bet is probably to take a part-time course, which will allow you to spend enough time on your assignments. Although this will mean that you'll be studying for longer, it might be worth the additional time spent studying as you won't be in so much debt when you graduate and you can also pick up valuable skills and experience in the workplace – helping to set you apart from your peers.