As the world becomes increasingly complex and competitive to navigate, and the cost of education continues to skyrocket, students of on-campus and online schools and parents alike are looking more and more at STEM studies, because they are likely to result in well-paying jobs for graduates.

But a lot of STEM jobs also require candidates to have a masters degree online or offline in the field. But the majority of students interested in pursuing do seem all too willing to spend an extra two years pursuing a graduate university online degree or traditional one.

Indeed, on-campus or online masters degrees will cost students and their family additional money, money which may or may not be easy to come by. Fortunately, masters degree online or offline students have an advantage ? on top of being able to apply for scholarships, they can also have a go at fellowship programs.

On-campus or online masters degrees also entail doing research. Basically coming up with your own ideas and testing them in the real-world environment. And fellowships provide financial support for those enrolled with offline or online masters degree who want to do research in a particular field.

It?s important to be aware of such funding programs as you search for sponsorships, because they might be able to provide you with real financial relief.

And the STEM field is one of the most targeted by scholarship providers. Why? Well the high cost of offline or online schools coupled with student loan debt and lack of skilled worked in many STEM fields, are driving more and more offline or online university students towards and science and technology education in place of a liberal arts education.

Look for funding programs in STEM at your offline or online university of choice, but if you find it doesn?t offer any, don?t despair. The Internet is the key to finding the means to pay for your master degree online or offline. You just have to have the patience to do the work, because finding the right scholarship to pay for your university online degree or traditional one is a rather lengthy process.

Students of online schools might have an advantage here, as they as more used to work online than their traditional counterparts.

Anyway, here?s a scholarship example for those enrolled with graduate studies at the traditional or online university. The NSF STEM scholarship in Water Resource Science and Engineering degree program is offered by the National Science Foundation.

It?s open to masters degree online or offline students pursuing a water resource water or water resources engineering degree program who are in financial need and either a first-generation college students or a member of an underrepresented minority (including Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans).

The scholarship consists of $10,000/a year along with tuition remission fellowships to eligible on-campus or online masters degrees in the field.

How can you apply? Well first off you need to demonstrate financial need by filling out the FAFSA form. Secondly, you will have to write an essay in which you describe how you meet each of the eligibility requirements, as well as provide info about your career goals, unique experiences that shaped your interests. Have any prior research experience? Don?t forget to share that too.

While the deadline for this year?s application has passed (January 5, 2018), don?t forget to bookmark this page and come back to this program next year.? Even if you started your program, you might be able to use the grant to fund the second year of your university online degree or traditional one.

http://oregonstate.edu/gradwater/stem-scholarship-announcement