The average cost of an undergraduate education at an American four-year institution is a little under $100,000. Back in the day, when a movie was fifteen cents and you could survive off minimum wage, there was a joke among those paying their way through school. It went a little something like: When we have kids, the way the world’s going now, it’ll be a hundred grand just to get them through school.

Surprise, Mom and Dad! That’s just for a state school!

It is understandable that so many get sticker shock, but the ever-rising cost of a person’s right to education gets even more dastardly when you look forward.

Graduate school? Many ask, eyes wide. How could we pay for that when a Bachelors cost an arm and a credit score?

The cost of graduate school can be equal to or greater than undergrad, but there are a few magical aspects that can reduce costs down to zero, and even put cash back in your pocket.

Become a TA, or teacher’s assistant. Many Master’s programs offer applicants the opportunity to be a part of assistant programs at the University. For the price of being a department lackey, many schools will cover tuition, housing, and give you a free meal plan. Some will even slip you an infinitesimal paycheck to cover your Starbucks tab. When researching programs, be sure to check for this or options like it. Teaching intro or 100 level classes may seem frightening or demeaning, but it’s better than living out of your parent’s garage for the next five years.

Scholarships. Just like those that exist for undergrad, graduate programs and outside groups offer free money to those looking to better the world. If you have a decent GPA, participate in community service, or have the drive to write a few heart wrenching 500-word essays, then this is the route for you. Search graduate scholarships and you will come up with millions of results. Some are career specific, others are only offered through certain schools, but many are more open. Look through and find those that apply to you, even if it’s only for $400. There’s no limit on how many scholarships one person can have, and every cent counts. A great place to start is scholarships.com or collegeboard.org

Then there are grants. Similar to scholarships, they are free money given to winning applicants. The difference is that they are based on financial need rather than deeds or academic success. Basically, they are everything a financially struggling college student has been praying for. Because they are gifts, grants do not need to be repaid and, if given for a specific research aspect, are not dependent on the outcome of the research. The only way grants can be lost is if your financial status changes, in which case the grant may not be needed anyway.

If you’re already in the workforce and looking to further your interests, knock on your boss’ door and see if they will foot the bill. No kidding, many companies aren’t looking to hire new employees who already have the education, that would mean higher salaries. Instead, existing employees are often sent to graduate school on the company dime. This arrangement can come with conditions; with the company choosing your degree, your school, and possibly contracting you to work for a specific number of years, but hey! It’s free!

What all this boils down to is that the fear of an education’s cost is founded, but it should not be debilitating. Control your breathing and tap into the nearest search engine. Look around at all the programs near you, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Talk to professors and department heads, talk to your boss, and toss some pamphlets at your parents. The cost of an education is going up, but you have the ability to overcome that dollar-shaped obstacle.

Image Courtesy : Fordhamalumni

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The American Graduate School in Paris (www.ags.edu) announces the publication of ‘The Scramble for African Oil: Oppression, Corruption and War for Control of Africa’s Natural Resources’ by one of its professors, Douglas Yates. The book was released by London’s Pluto Press on January 17th, 2012.

The Scramble for African Oil demonstrates how the international demand for oil contributes to the chronic political, economic and security problems plaguing Africa. Douglas Yates approaches this topic in ten separate discussions, such as domination by multinational corporations, anti-corruption initiatives by the international community, censorship of journalists and intellectuals, and oppression by praetorian regimes and terror.

The book features country case studies including Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola,Chad, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan. Professor Michael Watts of UC Berkeley says: “Yates brilliantly scales the walls of the oil fortress in Africa and shines a light into the complex politics – local, national and global – of the oil and gas industry and offers some insight into possible routes out of the swamp of failed oil development.”

Douglas Yates is professor of African studies at the American Graduate School in Paris. For the past twenty years he has been working on the politics of the international oil industry and related issues, primarily the question of oil dependency in Africa. He has been a consultant for governmental and non-governmental organizations; the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Catholic Relief Services, and the British Chatham House, among others. His publications include five books and several edited chapters.

The American Graduate School in Paris (AGS) is a nonprofit institution of higher education offering US programs in France to students from around the world. AGS specializes in international relations and diplomacy as well as international business. Programs are taught in English and include Master’s, Ph.D., certificates, and undergraduate or graduate study abroad.

The AGS research center recently publishedCrimes Against Women (Nova Publishers, New York: 2010), a collective work edited by David Wingeate Pike under the direction of Eileen Servidio, with a foreword by Bangladeshi author and human rights advocate Taslima Nasrin. The next project of AGS’s research center is related to African politics and will be announced shortly.

For more information:
www.ags.edu/international-relations/douglas-yates-the-scramble-for-african-oil
The Scramble for African Oil on the publisher’s website

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