Graduate School is expensive no matter where you go and what program you go to. For any future or current PhD candidates out there, even though you’re getting paid to go to school, it’s still expensive in terms of your time and work effort invested.

Some places I looked to for funding included the graduate schools I was interested in and the AICPA. Many graduate schools realize that their tuition plus the cost of living make it an expensive solution. As a result, many programs tend to award their students scholarships and typically, given the current economic status of our nation, private schools will tend to have more scholarships available. The AICPA has a variety of scholarships for accounting graduate students especially if you were not an accounting undergrad aka late bloomer or if you’re of minority descent.

So, to sum it all up, if you’re interested in grad school, do your research and figure out where potential sources of funding are and their deadlines. Ask the graduate schools you’re interested in about their scholarships and eligibility requirements or if they know of other outside parties you can look to for scholarships.

The AICPA decided to grant me the John L. Carey scholarship as a result of having a non-accounting major (Sociology) and ironically, I found out that I’m actually the 3rd consecutive USC MAcc student to have received this honor.

However, keep in mind that graduate schools and the AICPA are only 2 of the organizations that offer scholarships and there’s probably a lot more out there than you realize!