Master your finances, then sign up

The number of postgraduate students has increased fourfold in the past decade, with some 30 per cent mid-career. So, if you want to join their swelling ranks in September 2005, the sooner you start forward planning to minimise the impact on your life and your wallet, the better.

Prospects.ac.uk, the UK's official graduates career web site, is a one-stop-information-shop-cum-portal, and a great place to start. It efficiently allows you to pinpoint which course, subject and university; offers links to career advice services for those still unsure; lists independent sources of help in getting on the course (mastering applications and interviews); and helps you prepare for study once you are accepted (computer refresher courses, for example).

Alternatively, you can seek this information as an alumnus from the careers services of the university you graduated from.

A thorough cost analysis is of paramount importance. With fees ranging from £3,000 for a basic part-time masters, to £30,000 for an Ivy League full-time MBA, there are a number of ways to pay in addition to hard earned savings or a supportive spouse.

For a course that helps you progress with your existing job, your employer may be willing to help through a form of 'golden handcuffs'. You study, they help, you pay back in kind for perpetuity. However, if a part-time course requires time off work, possibly for travel, you may have to accept a pro-rata salary, and should assess whether this will continue to cover your outgoings.

Prospects.ac.uk also lists scholarships and bursaries currently available, which may prove a good guide for identifying the right course in the first place.

But by far the most popular form of payment is a career development loan (CDL), a form of deferred repayment. You can apply for a loan of between £300 and £8,000 to cover up to 80 per cent of your course and other costs such as books (in theory you could calculate this to cover the remaining 20 per cent of your fees).

You make no repayments while you're studying, with interest payments courtesy of the Department for Education and Skills for up to one month after you've finished. CDLs are available through three major banks: - Barclays, Co-operative and Royal Bank of Scotland. You don't need a bank account with them and you should shop around as interest rates and terms vary.

You may also be able to negotiate flexible terms of study with your tutor, provided you complete assignments. This may prove invaluable as a way of structuring your time. Postgraduate study can be intellectually demanding, and so failure to do this is an inevitable cause of the high attrition rates on some courses.

Sabbaticals can prove useful if circumstances change mid-course. For me, a gap between years of studying for an MA has become the equivalent of a commercial break, while I restructure our finances. I regret not having projected our monthly household budget better, but the sabbatical has provided an opportunity to apply what I have learnt so far.

If all this already sounds exhausting, don't be downhearted. Planned well, postgraduate study can become a crossroads on a poorly constructed career path, and offers rich rewards over and beyond more financially fulfilling or satisfying employment.

www.lifelonglearning.co.uk

www.prospects.ac.uk

www.dfes.gov.uk

Career Development Loans:

BankRate Terms % APR

BARCLAYS 7.6 typicalUp to 5 years, repayment may be deferred for up to two months after completion of course.

CO-OPERATIVE 14Up to 5 years, repayment may be deferred for up to a month.

RBS 10.6Repayment may be deferred for up to a month.

Source: MoneyFacts