This blog post is a part of the series, “CARED Perspectives,” developed by the APAGS Committee for the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity. This series will discuss current events and how these events relate to graduate students in psychology. If you are interested in contributing to the CARED Perspectives series, please contact Elizabeth Louis.

During my educational journey, I never imagined that I would be pursuing higher education as a first-generation college student. In my Haitian household, the common expected answers to questions about what I wanted to be when I grew up was the well rehearsed  response of a “doctor or lawyer.” Any other profession seemed not to exist to my Haitian parents. However, the real question that crossed my mind was,  who would be funding my education?

While I excelled in high school to attend a community college (Miami Dade College) and transferred to Georgetown University, I was blessed to receive a need-based scholarship. Yet, when graduate school rolled around, I felt even more clueless about how to fund not only my education, but also my living expenses. I took on the role of being my own personal banker, financial coach, piggy bank, and investor. There have been some noteworthy strategies that I have tried which helped me gain wisdom.  I have come up short on many opportunities because I did not fully understand the audience of selection committees, selected recommenders who were not a good match or failed to seek out answers to my questions. I have learned to reach out to my mentors and colleagues early on for feedback, research scholarships a year or a semester in advance, call scholarship committees that I was initially unsuccessful with, and use my calendar to organize deadlines. I constantly reminded myself to overcome my initial fear of applying to opportunities and let my perseverance be the recipe for success.

When thinking about scholarships, grants, and fellowships there are many opportunities for ethnic/racial graduate students…here’s the BREAK DOWN…(cues a Harlem shake).

Meet with peers, colleagues, mentors, faculty, and staff members –whether you know them or not — to inquire about opportunities in the following areas. You never know where one door will lead you. Also, be sure to follow-up on different funding sources.

• Department and psychology program
• School/College in which your program is within
• Your Institution
  • Dean’s Office
  • The Graduate School
  • Office of Research and Grants
  • Graduate Assistantships
• Other offices – E.g. International Office, Office of Institutional Diversity

Whether you attend conferences, are a student member of an APA division, or receive news from APAGS, please be diligent in creating connections and fostering relationships outside your school. Also, feel free to ask questions about funding opportunities to support your research and clinical work!

• The American Psychological Association
  • Divisions
  • APAGS
  • Minority Fellowship
• Local and State Psychological Associations

Now do not sleep on search engines like Google, as it can unlock many opportunities.

• Google
  • American Association of University Women
  • National Science Foundation
  • Southern Regional Education Board Awards
  • Sororities/Fraternities

During my journey in graduate school, I was positioned to look beyond monetary funding but to think creatively of ways to gain priceless experiences and take more ownership of my own finances and budgeting skills.

• Service – opportunities to serve, share your student perspectives, travel, and learn about other forms of scholarship
  • APA Memorandum of Understanding (e.g. Portugal and other countries)
  • APA Commission on Accreditation Student Member
  • APA Master’s Task Force
• Invest in Yourself
  • Learn about budgeting and saving strategies (e.g. Qapital, Acorns, David Ramsey)
  • Find an affordable financial coach
  • Keep tabs on your loan(s) and retirement funding (Roth IRA)

I hope that these nuggets of information will help you develop strategies to fund your graduate education, expand your ways of thinking about scholarship, and provide you with support and resources. This journey toward financial stability will have its challenges, yet can be extremely rewarding. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or other resources that I have not listed here.

Also, click here for a listing of additional funding opportunities that will be added on the APAGS CARED website. Wishing you all the best…kenbe la (hold on and press on)!

Elizabeth Louis, PhD