“My decision to go to graduate school was over 20 years in the making, but it only took a minute to decide once I knew it would be in real estate. Given my experience and passion for the industry I felt the course work would be compelling and engaging, but not overwhelming. The real challenge would be paying for the degree when college costs are three times what they were when I last walked a college campus. Quickly I realized that while there are likely more private scholarships and grants today than ever before many are exclusively for undergraduates just trying to get their initial higher education, not for those pursuing graduate work. In addition, of the funding sources available there were not as many real estate specific sources as I would have hoped. The good news is that my university’s real estate graduate program has an explicit relationship with the Appraisal Institute where approved coursework can be applied towards most requirements for the Appraisal Institute’s MAI membership designation. As I researched this designation and saw that it was a good fit I also discovered that the AI Education Trust offers a scholarship to qualified graduates like myself to help pay for our overall education. How exciting it was to find a scholarship which I felt was directed towards me. I found the scholarship application to be very straightforward and to-the-point asking me for information that I should already have at hand or could easily obtain. Anyone considering a master’s degree in real estate should apply for this scholarship no matter what specialty they ultimately pursue.”