<prompt> Human: Hi, rpersonalfinance! This is my first post here.For a long time, I was certain I did not want to go to grad school. However, I have recently realized that it will actually be the best choice for me, and I am stressing out a lot over how to pay for it. Here is some info on the situation.My current situation:-I just graduated from college undergrad. I am 22 years old.-I have 19,600 in loans I need to pay off from undergrad, and will be taking on a plan that allows me to pay them off for a minimum of 200 a month might pay faster if Im able to though to avoid accruing so much interest.-I currently have a job that will pay me a 2,000 stipend for 5 weeks of work, but also covers my housingmeals. So I do not have any living costs right now. After this summer, I should have 4,000 in my bank account total 2,000 already there from previous earnings graduation money, and 2,000 from new job, before taxes.-I have 3,000 in the stock market through mutual funds. Started as 1,800 back in 2008, but grew.-I have 3,000 extra that is currently not in my checking account, that I saved over the course of college to help me pay off loans.-I am starting a lease at a new apartment this August, where my portion of the rent, utilities, electric, and internet will come out to about 800month.-I do not currently have a job planned for when my current one ends, but I could probably find something that pays about 10hour. 8.50hour minimum Illinois.Some info on grad school:-It is 800 per credit hour, and I would need 64 credit hours to graduate. It will cost about 51,000 total for 2 years of school.-This school does not have TAs, so I cant make up any of the money that way.-They offer scholarships for your second year of school, but my first year I would have to pay for myself, through loans and such. It would be probably a little over 25,000 for the first year.I feel so lost right now. I am planning to fill out a FAFSA, but are there any grants out there I could apply for, so I dont just go into more debt? Are there any financial aid programs I could utilize? When I did undergrad, my school gave me a large grant for all 4 years, so that was helpful, but this school has said they wont give out grants for the first year.If anyone has any ideas for programs I can look into, please let me know! Or any ways to better manage my money so I can make this work. Ideally, if I apply before August, I should be able to start in September. I want to continue my education, but I also dont want to be paying off loans well into my old age. And Im hoping that my Masters degree will enable me to get a higher-paying job which will help me pay off the loans faster, but Im still nervous, more for how Im going to fund it in the short-term.Im very inexperienced with all of this, so any help would be really appreciated. Thank you!Assistant: Grad school for what?Why do you want to do it?Hoping that having a masters will get you a higher paying job than you can with a bachelors is not enough. Having a masters and no job experience may even make it harder to find an entry level job which might be the best you can do, or maybe not. It depends on the field. Talk to people finishing up the program about their job searches, dont trust what advisers or professors tell you; they usually dont have a clue.Best way to pay for grad school is to be fully funded by your department or have your employer pay for it. Another good option is to go work in your field for a few years and save up for it. Ive seen people get burned by promises of funding after the first year, dont fall for that.You are looking at 70k minimum of two years opportunity cost, delayed earnings... Weigh that against what you hope to gain from doing a masters. How long will it take you to make up for that 70k what you would have made working for two years with just your bachelors?Human: Thanks for your reply! I didnt want to go into too many specifics, because I feel like my field often gets laughed at. However, I will elaborate.I realize that I made it seem like the main reason I wanted to go to grad school was to get a higher paying job later on, and that is not how I intended to come off. Im sorry for the confusion.In college, I was a film major, with a focus on screenwriting. I would like to get my MFA in screenwriting for a few reasons. First, the program would allow me to build a stronger portfolio than I could if I were just writing on my own. Second, the program would help me make connections with people so that I could actually sell scripts which is the hardest part of making money here. Third, in order to teach screenwriting at any college, you need a Masters, and I want to be able to teach it as well.I hope that cleared some things up. Do you know any ways to get funded by a department, or how I can get an employer to pay? Im just new to this whole thing.Thank you!!  <response>: Film degree, wanting to pursue a masters in screenwriting, while you are in debt and have no job or professional experience...The answer is thats a bad idea. 