How to pay for Masters in the US

[iampaul]

I am a US citizen. I was born in New York but I grew up in the Philippines. I am planning to take my Masters in Electrical Engineering specializing in IC design or Control Systems in the US, but when I checked the tuition/fees I learned that it would take a crazy amount of time to save up that much money. I've seen 35k plus dollars tuition at the university of california for non-resident students. That's 1.6M philippine pesos. My monthly salary as a test engineer is just 25k philippine pesos per month(540 USD). I am planning to take up my Masters to boost my chances of being accepted in an IC design position in the US or as a control/guidance systems engineer in aircaft companies. Since saving up for my Masters in the US is 'impossible', I'm planning to just save up for my ticket to the US which costs about 100k philippine pesos, while maybe taking up my Masters here in EE which is way cheaper (1000 pesos per unit) . I doubt this masters degree from the Philippines will get me a good job, but I am hoping that at least it would improve my chance of getting admitted into a graduate program, and to help prepare me for my Masters in the US. I am thinking of applying for TA,RA ,fellowship programs and even student loans to help pay for my masters.

Do you have any other recommendations? Thanks

 

[MarneMath]

It's rather tricky. If it's possible I would recommend you move back to the United States first and establish residency in a state. That should cut your potential cost of education in half. In California, that essentially means living in California for a year prior to starting school. In the meantime, you will hopefully be abel to find a job and save money to help reduce the burden of the cost.

 

[boneh3ad]

Search for MS programs where you can be funded. They aren't as common as funded PhD programs but they do exist. This generally means they pay for your tuition and give you a stipend to cover room and board and the like in return for research and/or teaching duties.

 

[DrSteve]

Usually there is no domestic/versus international discount for MS programs and the odds of getting a funded MS degree as an applicant from abroad are next to zero. I would get my MS in the Philippines (perhaps get involved in a little research there), then move back to the US to begin the application process. Make sure your two MS programs have different titles - duplication would be frowned upon/discouraged.

 

[SteamKing]

There's plenty of schools besides those in the UC system, and plenty of places to live which are not as expensive as Cali.

If there is no opening for you in a UC school, it is wise to have a back-up of several alternate schools from which to choose.

I applied for undergrad admission to UC Berkeley 40 years ago, and I'm still waiting for a slot to open up.

 

[boneh3ad]

Getting a funded MS is much less rare than you seem to be implying, @DrSteve. Given, it's far from a sure thing, but it would be foolish for @iampaul to not explore that option before committing to an MS back in the Phillippines if his goal is to end up here.