Postgraduate degree

[Brit71]

An odd one really, but I'd like to pursue a postgraduate history degree - not for career purposes

Are there any ways to hack the system to cut the cost?

(It probably doesn't help that I'm in the UK)

[Metalcat]

There are usually a ton of grants for graduate programs. Back when I was looking into a PhD, getting a grant was a pre-requisites for acceptance to a lot of programs.

So look into that.

[secondcor521]

My area has really really cheap tuition for people over 65.  Like $10/credit or something.  You might have to be non-degree seeking.  Maybe the UK has something similar.  You might not want to wait that long.

[Freedomin5]

One of my colleagues is getting her Masters for free at the University of the People. https://www.uopeople.edu/tuition-free/

It offers American accredited degrees, though I'm not sure if there's one in history. They don't charge tuition, but they charge a $60 application fee, and an assessment fee for each course to be paid at the end of each course.

If you just want to take courses, https://www.edx.org/ has online courses taught by professors from various well-known universities.

[Askel]

I'm not in the UK nor do I know anything at all about the history field, so my advice might not be all the helpful.  But I have acquired one and halfish post graduate degrees without spending any of my own money by working for the university I got them from. Either as staff (free paid tuition) or as a supported graduate student. 

Figuring out your goals for this might be helpful. If you have no career goals, the ultimate goal of a degree may not be the best path. There are lots of ways to learn and universities are simply one path, and usually focused on career development at that.  Sometimes though, being part of the university system gets you access to resources you might not otherwise be able to get.  There are tons of backdoors into the system though that don't require being a tuition paying student. Working as staff as worked well for me for many years but there are also possibilities such as volunteering and collaboration with those inside the university.   

[clarkfan1979]

An odd one really, but I'd like to pursue a postgraduate history degree - not for career purposes

Are there any ways to hack the system to cut the cost?

(It probably doesn't help that I'm in the UK)

The official degree seeking graduate student path with free tuition and a small stipend is probably the least efficient. Your advisor owns your time and you will be working 60 hour weeks during the semester and 30 hour weeks during the breaks on your advisors projects and research.

I like the suggestion of being a staff member in order to take classes for free. However, when I was in grad school, I think only grad students that were part of the program were allowed to enroll in the classes. I remember one year in my MA program, someone got into our class that wasn't part of our program and the professor had them removed.

[Askel]

That is a good point- as a staff member you can't just sign up for classes willy-nilly. At my school, you must be accepted and enrolled like any other student and many graduate classes have extensive prerequisites or sometimes even instructor permission required to enroll. 

As for being a supported grad student- with recent student visa limitations here in the US and the difficulty finding qualified people in my field, most advisors are very, very good to their students (the pay still sucks though).  But talk to other students in the program before signing on with anyone.  Like any other class of bosses, there are a lot of terrible ones. 

[roomtempmayo]

(It probably doesn't help that I'm in the UK)

When I applied to grad school, I threw in an application for the D.Phil. program at Oxford.  I didn't really understand the UK system at all, and after I was accepted realized that the offer entailed zero funding.  It was a BYOM (Bring Your Own Money) deal.  I laughed and tossed their acceptance letter.  They called a few weeks later to see when I'd be arriving.  I didn't realize foreign grad students are cash cows.

As @Askel and @clarkfan1979 mention, there are lots of ways to take classes for free and probably scratch some research itches in the process.  That's all pretty open and straightforward.  It's the actual degree process that's heavily gatekept.  If you aren't doing it for career reasons, do you actually need to pursue the degree?

[meadow lark]

One of my colleagues is getting her Masters for free at the University of the People. https://www.uopeople.edu/tuition-free/

What a great resource - thanks for sharing it!

I’m FIRED and went back to school to get an MA in Counseling.  I’m having a blast.  I have a new group of friends, something fun on my calendar every week, and as much as I hate doing papers I do get a dopamine hit everytime I finish one.  I am paying for it - $5k a semester, but it’s worth it to me.  I’ve gotten an online degree in the past, and it worked well because I was still working, but this is a lot more fun.

[Car Jack]

In Massachusetts, any state citizen over 60 can take courses at community college, or state university can take any course for free.  The monkey wrench is that to do this, you can't register until after paying students' enrollment has finished. My father in law has been taking courses for the last 5 years.  I've looked into it and at our local state college, I could, if I wanted to take all the courses to get any of those financial advisor fancy letters.