I definitely would not get a loan for grad school or pay all that $$. My kids who are engineers will have their school paid for by their employer. One is doing online at GA Tech. It is competitive online. There are several good schools that offer online for working professionals.
Im not sure how the schools select who gets funding. I know someone who applied ME Masters and was invited to several of the schools along with other students (airfare and hotel paid for) to talk about funding, tour the lab etc. I thought that was reserved for Phds.