There are three basic categories of money available for a graduate student's education:

Grants, fellowships, and scholarships
This is "free" money provided by government programs, educational institutions, foundations, corporations, and other private sources. (The difference between a grant and a fellowship is that a grant is awarded based on financial need and a fellowship is awarded based on academic merit.)

Education-related salaries
Such as those paid for teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or administrative assistantships.

Loans from governmental, institutional, or private sources
The majority of funding is administered directly from the graduate department or university. Complete the school's financial support application and requirements early in the application process. Deadlines for financial support frequently are a month or so earlier than regular admission deadlines. Outside sources of financial support are also available for graduate study.

Private fellowships, grants, and scholarships can be identified through several reference books located in the Scholarship and Fellowship Resource Center in Room 2574 of the UCSB Library. There are a limited number of resources in the Career Resources Room:

• Directory of Financial Aids for Women [J.11]
• Free Money for Professional Studies. [J.08]
• How to Find Out About Financial Aid. [J.05]
• The Graduate Scholarship Book (2nd Ed.). [J.04]
• Peterson's Grants for Graduate Students. [J.09]

Online Resources for Scholarships & Fellowships include:

Gradschools.com
The most comprehensive online source of graduate school information also includes information on Graduate Fellowship Programs.

FastWeb.com
The most complete source of local, national, and college-specific scholarships.

America's Career InfoNet Scholarship Search
Search more than 5,000 scholarships, fellowships, loans, and other financial aid opportunities.

Evergreen
General Interest fellowships & scholarships.