Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

The Scholarship Secret You Didn't Know

23 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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0:51

In this brief instructional video, Steve Tippins, Ph.D., explains how doctoral students can secure financial support. He outlines the two primary stipend sources—research and teaching assistantships—and emphasizes the importance of actively seeking scholarships both within the university and from external sources. He shares a quirky example of a bagpipe scholarship to illustrate that niche, demographic‑specific awards exist, such as those for women returning to accounting, older students, or younger candidates. He concludes by inviting viewers to join a free Dissertation Help Community for ongoing support.

Chapters

How do you get money in a doctoral program? Well, stipends to be a research assistant and/or teach. So those are two ways that are there. There's also scholarship. You should be looking into scholarship. See what your university offers or what outside of the university offers. I once heard about a scholarship for a bagpipe player. Someone had endowed money to make sure that someone who played the bagpipes could go to school at a certain. Now, there may not be a Bagpipe Scholarship for your doctoral program, but there may be scholarships for returning women in accounting, or people over 45 going after degrees, or people under 27 going for degrees. You want to explore every possibility for scholarships. Join our free Dissertation Help Community and we'll provide as much support as possible.