Graduate school generally costs more than undergraduate education, often imposes a heavy debt burden (possibly adding to the debt you are already carrying), and usually has fewer opportunities for financial aid than are available at undergraduate institutions. However, you shouldn't automatically assume that you won't be able to afford graduate school--there are a number of sources of aid that are available, several of which are described below. What you need to do is engage in a realistic evaluation of costs and of available resources.

There are three basic kinds of financial support available to support graduate education.  They are: 1) education-related salaries, typically in the form of teaching or research assistantships, but sometimes including administrative assistantships and counseling assistantships; 2) grants and fellowships; and 3) government or institutional loans or loans from private sources.  Not all of these kinds of support are equally available in all schools, nor to all students, so you must do some homework on what is available from the programs that interest you.

• Assistantships: When support is available, it is most typically in the form of an "RA" or a "TA" position awarded directly from the department in which you are doing your graduate work.  An RA is a Research Assistant, while a TA is a Teaching Assistant.  As an RA, you would typically assist with the research of a faculty member--and sometimes, you will be able to piggyback onto that research project to develop your own line of research and/or related publications.   If you are a TA, you will usually assist with one or more sections of an undergraduate course; your duties may include facilitating discussion groups, writing exam questions, and/or grading undergraduates' papers or exams.  Both RA and TA positions typically require a commitment of about 10 to 20 hours per week.  Student Life Assistantships (like Hall Director positions) are sometimes available through the school's Residential Life Department.  In addition, there are sometimes administrative assistantships available, particularly at larger institutions.  The graduate school office (rather than the department) can give you information on who to contact about these, if they are available.
• Fellowships and Grants: Some departments and institutions also offer fellowships, scholarships, or training grants.  These are usually straight monetary awards that do not require work-hour commitments, and they are typically awarded on the basis of academic merit.  However, no matter how good your undergraduate record is, you cannot count on such fellowships, as they are becoming ever more scarce in the graduate world today. Carefully investigate resources like The Graduate Scholarship Book, Grants for Graduate Students, The Grants Register, and others that are available in the Career Center.   These books list both large and small grants and fellowships available across the country.  It is worthwhile to apply for even fairly small fellowships, since you can sometimes put together a substantial package for yourself from several sources.
• Loans: Government (state/federal) programs are another source of financial aid support.  There are some government sponsored fellowships (scholarships that do not require repayment) as well as government loans.  Two current loan programs are the Carl Perkins National Direct Student Loan Program, and the Stafford Guaranteed Student Loan Program.  Most loans will be administered through the institution's financial aid office rather than through the academic department, so you need to be sure to contact both places.
• Jobs: Many students work throughout their graduate school experience.  Some obtain jobs connected with various academic programs while others work completely outside the school.  Some law schools, for example, now offer job/internship programs that are affiliated with the law school, so that you can complete both course work and paid career-related work at the same time.  Some medical schools also make provisions for employment affiliated with health centers or hospitals.  Many institutions have work-study programs that provide part-time employment during the academic year, and full or part-time employment during the summer.

The way that you finance your graduate education will ultimately depend on a variety of factors, including the type of program in which you will enroll, availability of government and institutional funding, and of course your individual personal and financial circumstances.  Assessing your ability to meet the financial costs of attending graduate school sooner rather than later will allow you to take advantage of a maximum number of funding opportunities and to make the most informed decision possible.