Merit-Based Aid Programs

Our merit-based aid programs include:

Graduate Assistantships

Full-time graduate students are eligible to compete for graduate assistantships, which grant partial to full tuition remission. Serving in these positions, Graduate Assistants help faculty and administrators in a variety of research, educational and administrative activities. Assistantships are awarded for merit, based on criteria that include the candidate's previous educational achievements, GMAT or GRE scores, specific skills related to your contribution to the incoming class, and, if applicable, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score. Students that are awarded a GA will not be provided with a salary but will be taxed on the estimated hourly rate for their position. 

Graduate Scholarships

A limited number of merit scholarships are awarded to new students and do not contain a work component in the award. Selection is also based on criteria that include the candidate's previous educational achievements, GMAT or GRE scores, specific skills related to your contribution to the incoming class, and, if applicable, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score.

Alternative Loan Programs

Bentley University participates in a variety of alternative student loan programs. These include the Massachusetts Educational Financial Authority (MEFA) Loan for Graduate Education, CitiBank CitiAssist Loan, Citizens TruFit Loan and the Wells Fargo Collegiate Loan. Participation in these programs is based on the applicant's creditworthiness.

Graduate Student Employment

Students can help offset college costs through on or off-campus student employment. On-campus employment opportunities are limited. Our partner, CollegeHelpers.com, can assist students with off-campus positions. Please contact the Student Employment Office at student_employment@bentley.edu for further information.

Department Assistantships

Department Assistantships are available in some of the academic departments that offer graduate degrees. Under these assistantships, students are provided with an hourly salary for up to 20 hours of work per week.  DA employees that need to work more than 20 hours a week may do so only with the permission of the Assistant Dean of Graduate Student and Academic Services. International Students are not eligible to work more than 20 hours per week under US Visa policy.

 
Effective Fall 2013, to qualify for a DA position, students must be made ‘eligible’ at that time of their admission to the graduate school.  Students will be selected based on their prior academic achievements, including standardized test scores.  Students will be selected to be eligible to apply for a DA at the time of admission. 
 
Once a student is “DA Eligible” they are entitled to apply for any DA position on campus throughout their tenure as a graduate student.  Being “DA Eligible” does not guarantee securing a position as hiring decisions are made at the discretion of the individual departments.  Salary on DA positions are subject to state and federal taxes.
 
DA Eligible students are also entitled to receive other merit aid from Graduate Admissions at the time of their admission.  Merit aid must be used within the school calendar year of their admission (for example, students admitted for Fall 2013 need to use any awarded between September 2013 and June 2014).  However, they may continue to work in their DA position with salary benefits. 
 
Students that were admitted prior to Fall 2013 and are employed as a DA may continue to do so but will no longer receive tuition remission as part of their ‘compensation’.