Asking for financial help

If a program lists a cost, look harder for: financial aid, fee waiver, scholarship, need-based support, sliding scale, bursary. Many programs only mention it on a secondary page or in a paragraph at the bottom.

If you can't find anything, write to them: 'I'm strongly interested in applying. The listed fee would be difficult for my family — could you share what financial support is available?' This is a normal, professional question. Programs hear it every cycle. Asking does not make you a worse candidate.

Three to five sentences is enough. You do not have to share anything painful or private to be taken seriously. What committees actually need is a clear picture of the situation.

Try something like: 'My household income is roughly [amount]. My [parent/guardian] works as [role]; I have [siblings, dependents, or other context]. Without full coverage of tuition and travel, attending wouldn't be possible.'

Avoid 'we're not rich' or 'we're middle class.' These mean very different things in different places. Numbers and concrete constraints travel better than labels.

Three quiet questions sit behind every aid decision: can this student demonstrably not pay the full amount, will aid actually decide whether they attend, and is the request a reasonable size. Answer all three, gently and clearly, somewhere in your statement.

Even after the program's own aid, ask about travel stipends, meal coverage, and equipment costs separately — they're often funded out of different pots.

Look locally too: community foundations, civic groups, religious organizations, employer scholarships for the children of staff, alumni networks at the program. Five small awards can quietly add up to the gap you needed to close.