Starting with the Class of 2013, the Conway School has offered a handful of need-based grants. Over time, the school’s ability to offer grant aid has increased. As Conway raises funds from generous donors, including many alums of the school, we’ve been able to offer more grants. In 2015-16, we’re offering need-based grants up to $5000. These grant awards are available to students who apply for federal Direct Loans and are financially eligible.
Keeping Tuition Affordable
The 2015-16 year marks Conway’s fifth in a row with level tuition. While the price of a graduate education is still not cheap, we’ve chosen to resist the national trend that sees ever-increasing education costs and student debt. Conway’s intensive program also greatly reduces the financial impact of pursuing a Master’s degree. Students enrolled at Conway spend an average of about $50,000 in total costs during the ten months. Compared with the total price of 2-3 year graduate programs and the additional 1-2 years out of the workforce, Conway’s condensed model is highly cost effective.
A Commitment to Need-Based Aid
As Conway’s ability to provide financial aid has grown, we’ve shifted somewhat in our approach. In recent years we offered a large merit scholarship called the Sustainable Communities Initiative Fellowship. In 2014 we chose to stop offering this fellowship and focus instead on need-based aid. We still have a small grant available to alums of the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, and we may develop similar programs in the future, but these will total a fraction of the aid we award. We believe need-based aid better serves our mission of providing an ecological design education that is available to as many people as possible.