Graduate School Financial Aid

Looking for financial aid to go to graduate school? Join the club. There are lots of people that need financial aid in order to take on the expense of going to graduate school. But take heart, there are lots of ways that you can find financial assistance. This brief article will discuss some of them, and point you at other resources that can help you explore your options further.

The first step is to determine what the schools you are interested in attending charge for tuition, and what financial aid options they offer. You should do this as part of the initial application process. Getting accepted to a graduate school that you can't afford to go to is not very helpful. Make sure that you calculate your return on investment (you can use our ROI calculator) to see when you can expect to have recouped your investment in graduate school, and begin to see a return.

So find our about all their internal options even before you look at outside options. Make sure you get all the required applications in on time. Some schools are able to offer forms of gift aid (also known as institutional aid). This is the most sought after form of aid, as it does not need to be repaid. However, it usually has additional stipulations related to scholarship merit, need, or other very specific criteria.

Graduate schools may offer employment opportunities as a form of financial aid as well. This can include working as a teaching assistant or other forms of on-campus employment. For example, internships that provide degree related experience are an interesting form of aid. All of these opportunities can be explored through the financial aid office of each school that you are considering.

There are many forms of federal financial aid programs as well. You can request a Free Application for Federal Student Aid at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. You can also get FAFSA forms from your graduate school. This will help you get access to many federal programs, including Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Federal Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Pell Grants, and Federal Work-Study Programs.

If you submit your FAFSA application to a school, it usually needs to be received by the school after January 1 and before March 1 for applications for the following school year beginning in the Fall. However, FAFSA applications can still be submitted on the web until June 30. FAFSA processes your application and determines your financial need level and sends the graduate school a financial aid report.

It is up to the school to determine what they consider your financial need to be, and how much you will be granted. You will need to cover the remaining amounts by other means, most likely by private loans. This can include money from individuals, corporations, or foundations. The terms under which money can be received vary greatly and will require some research. It may require some research on your part to determine which private financial source is best for you.

Some of these private sources include Sallie Mae, CitiAssist, and Access Group. These companies offer varying terms based on the available information on the student's credit history. Contact each of these groups to find out what the best terms you can get to cover your remaining expenses.

If you are part of a minority group, or a veteran, there may be other types of financial aid options available to you as well. Veterans Educational Benefits is a program for veterans who have had at least one year of active service and you can find out more about this program from the Veterans Affairs Department in Washington D.C. If you are part of a minority, and don't know where to go, ask your candidate college's financial aid officer bout options for minority based benefits.

As you can see, there are a lot of different options for paying your graduate school expenses. However, with diligent effort to explore these options you can find the best path for you.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/graduate_school_financial_aid

Federal Work Study

Federal Work Study programs offer jobs to undergraduate and graduate students to allow them to earn the money they need to pay their educational expenses. Federal Work Study programs are designed to encourage community work, and work related directly to the student's major. The income you can earn will be at least minimum wage, and may be higher depending on the nature of the work performed.

The total amount of your Federal Work Study award depends on when you apply, the level of need, and the funding level of the school. You are not allowed to earn money in excess of the award under the program. You may of course earn money elsewhere. Undergraduates earn money on an hourly basis, and graduate students may be paid hourly or be placed on a salary.

Your school is obligated to pay you directly, unless you request that they apply payments to your tuition bills, other fees, or room and board. Work may be on campus or off. Off-campus work will usually be with a private non-profit agency or public agency where you can find work in the public interest. Some schools do have arrangements with private for profit organizations where you perform work directly related to your programs of study.

Source: The Student Guide, published by the US Department of Education. Note that federal financial aid programs are subject to change. Check with the school(s) of your choice to get the very latest information.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/federal_work_study

Federal Perkins Loans

Federal Perkins Loans are low interest loans (5 percent) for both undergraduate students and graduate students with financial need. Federal Perkins loans are made through your school, so the school actuallly provides the loan, not the federal government. The funds for the loan come primarily from the federal governemnt, but your school will contribute funds as well.

Eligibility for a Federal Perkins Loan is determined based on your "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC). This is a calculation of how much money the government believes your family is able to pay. To find out what your EFC is, you need to begin the application process by submitting a FAFSA form. About 6 weeks after you submit this form (or 2-3 weeks if you submit it by the web) you will get a "Student Aid Report" that will show you your eligibility.

The maximum loan you can receive for one year is $4000, with a maximum total of $20,000 for your entire time as an undergraduate student. For graduate students, the maximum amount per year is $6000, with a maximum total of $40,000 (including the amount you received as an undergraduate). Loan amounts are paid to you directly by the school, or credited to your account.

There are no fees with Federal Perkins Loans (other than the interest), but you will be charged late fees if you miss a payment, and collection costs if they are required to obtain payments from you. You do not need to begin repaying the loan until 9 months after you graduate, or 9 months after you begin attending school less than half time. This period is used as a grace period, in order to allow you to find employment and be in a postion to begin repayments. Payback of the loan is done over a 10 year period.

Interest paid on a Federal Perkins Loan can be used as a deduction on your federal tax return. The maximum tax deduction allowed per year is $2500. For more information, refer to the IRS web site as http://www.irs.gov.

Your school is required to notify you in writing of each deposit to your account (or to send you a check). You may cancel the loan at any time by providing a notice in writing to your school. Once you provide such notice, you will receive no more funds, and if you provide such notice within 14 days of the last deposit to your account (or the date of the last check), you may return that last deposit (or check). All other funds you may have received prior to that, however, still constitute a loan and still need to be repaid.

Source: The Student Guide, published by the US Department of Education. Note that federal financial aid programs are subject to change. Check with the school(s) of your choice to get the very latest information.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/federal_perkins_loans

Federal Pell Grants

About 2/3 of all student financial aid comes from various types of federal financial aid sources. One of the better known forms of financial aid programs is the Federal Pell Grant. Federal Bell Grants are unique in that they do not need to be repaid. Pell Grants are typically given only to students that are pursuing an undegraduate degree. One of the few exceptions to this is you may be eligible if you are applying to a graduate teacher certificate program.

Eligibility for a Pell Grant is determined based on your "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC). This is a calculation of how much money the government believes your family is able to pay. To find out what your EFC is, you need to begin the application process by submitting a FAFSA form. About 6 weeks after you submit this form (or 2-3 weeks if you submit it by the web) you will get a "Student Aid Report" that will show you your eligibility.

The size of Pell Grants depends on the currently approved funding for the program. For the 2003-2004 academic year, the maximum award was $4050. Other factos affecting the size of your possible grant are the cost of attending the school, whether or not you are full or part time, and whether or not you are going for the full year. You may not receive more than one grant per year, or from more than one school at a time.

Federal Pell Grants are received through the school. Payments can be credited against your tuition bill, by paying you, or a combination of both. Once you have been awareded a Pell Grant, the school must notify you in writing of the amount, and how payment will be managed.

Pell Grants are an extremely useful supplement to a financial aid program. As they don't need to be repaid, they can play a key role in lowering the burden you face after completing your education, when other types of financial aid needs to be repaid. Note that each school will receive enough money from the federal government to cover the Pell Grant awards to all eligible students. This is not the call with all federal financial aid programs.

Source: The Student Guide, published by the US Department of Education. Note that federal financial aid programs are subject to change. Check with the school(s) of your choice to get the very latest information.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/federal_pell_grants

Financial Aid Overview

Picking a school for you, or your child, to go to college can be an intimidating process. There are two major challenges - picking the best schools, and figuring out how to pay for it. To make matters even more complicated, many schools are very expensive, and this can affect your choice of schools. Further, the financial aid process is complicated. There are many choices available, and many things must be done to qualify for aid, and to collect it. This article will provide you with a basic overview of the process. Here are some of the key things that you need to do:

1. Talk to the financial aid councilors at the school's you are considering. Always a good first step. The school financial aid councilor will provide you additional guidance on applying for federal financial aid. In addition, they will know about available scholarship programs and state financial aid packages that may apply to your situation.
2. Get a grip on your financial situation. All federal financial aid packages are based off of assumptions of what you and your family are able to pay towards your education. Before you even begin the process, it makes sense for you to analyze your own situation. Understand in detail your income, expenses, and available assets and debt. This will make the rest of the process go much more smoothly.
3. Understand the total college expenses required. Look at the colleges you are considering. Keep in mind the expenses you must pay are more than just the tuition. Total college expenses include tuition, room expenses, food expenses, and other fees such as application fees.
4. Get the required documents in advance. Federal financial aid programs require you to provide evidenve about what income, expenses, assets, and debt that you have. So in addition, to understanding your financial aid situation, you will need to be able to document it. This includes documents such as tax returns, W-2 forms, and other. These are explained in more detail in the section on "Expected Family Contribution" below.
5. Fill out the FAFSA first. Any federal financial aid program will require you to fill out the FAFSA form. Filling this form out accurately is a must at an early stage in the process. Make sure that you fill out and file the form on time.
6. Review the Student Aid Report. Once you fill out the FAFSA form, you will get a report back known as the Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR will tell you your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Read through the report and make sure you understand what your family is expected to contribute towards college expenses.
7. Calculate how much you are eligilble to receive. At this point, its easy. The amount of aid you are eligible to receive is the Total college expenses - the EFC.
8. Work with your school councilor to make a financial aid plan. In addition to federal financial aid, consider other options such as scholarship programs and state federal aid.

Once you have a financial aid plan, you can pursue various types of programs. Many of these are described in detail in the articles listed below. Some key tips to keep in mind through the whole process are:

• Be on time. Make sure you file everything required in the timeframe required. Don't be late. And, in fact, for some forms, such as the FAFSA, its important to not file too early as well (you cannot file the FAFSA before January 1). Improperly timed financial aid filings can and will cost you the ability to receive some or all of the financial aid for which you are eligible.

• Be accurate. Mistakes and inconsistencies on the FAFSA form is one of the biggest reasons people lose access to financial aid. Be accurate. Make sure you have all the required documentation.

• Get good grades. Many financial aid programs are structured to provide financial aid programs purely on the basis of need. Others, such as Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants are limited in supply, and therefore provide the school with discretionary input into who gets the loan and who does not. Turn this to your advantage by showing your capacity to be an excellent student.

• Meet the school's performance requirements. All schools require recipients of financial aid to meet minimum academic performance requirements. Financial aid to pay for your education is a precious gift. Once you get it, don't lose it!

Please also refer to our info on state financial aid.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/federal_financial_aid

FSEOG

An FSEOG (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant) is for undergraduates with exceptional financial need, that is student's with the lowest "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC) level. For those of you not familiar with EFC, this is the US federal government's appraisal of how much money your family should be able to contribute towards your education. You can obtain your EFC by submiting a FAFSA form. About 6 weeks after you submit this form (or 2-3 weeks if you submit it by the web) you will get a "Student Aid Report" (SAR) that will show you your EFC.

Not all students that are eligible for financial aid will receive an FSEOG. This is because the US federal government provides funds to each school, each of which must then make the final allocation. Amounts that are awarded are typically between $1000 and $4000 a year. The amount you may receive depends on the financial aid policies of the school, when you apply, your degree of need, and the funding level of the school.

Source: The Student Guide, published by the US Department of Education. Note that federal financial aid programs are subject to change. Check with the school(s) of your choice to get the very latest information.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/fseog

FAFSA

If you have found yourself asking this question as you began investigating how to pay for a college education, you are not alone. The process can be confusing and intimidating. Simply put, the FAFSA is a form that you must fill out to begin the process of applying for federal financial aid. FAFSA is used by nearly all colleges colleges and the federal government to get an assessment of your financial circumstances. This enables them to determine your degree of need for financial aid. Take note: regardless of your level of income or financial assets you can qualify for financial aid. However, there are certain types of programs that are specifically targeted at lower income families.

Once you fill out a FAFSA form you then wait until you receive a Student Aid Report (SAR), which will tell you your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This is how much money the federal goverment figures that you and your family are able to pay towards a college education. This is based on a calculation of the amount of income, reasonable expenses, assets, and reasonable debt (some types of debt such as credit cards are not included) that you and your parents have. Your EFC will guide what types of financial aid you can apply for and what you are most likely to receive.

But to learn your EFC, you must start by filling out the FAFSA form. The FAFSA form will ask for a lot of information about your income and assets, so be ready for it. In fact, its best to have the documents in hand and ready before you start. Here is what you will need:

• Your social security number
• Your driver's license (if you have one)
• Last year's W-2 forms and records of money earned
• Your last year's tax returns (and, if you are married, for your spouse)
• Your parent's tax return for last year
• Untaxed income records for last year, such as social security, welfare, veteran's benefits, or any other untaxed income
• Your bank statements for each month of last year
• Last year's business and investment mortgage information, business records, and any other investment records
• Your alien registration card, if you are not a US citizen

Once you have this information in hand, you are ready to fill out the FAFSA form. You can do this by hand and mail it in, or you can submit it electronically over the web. Submitting electronically is strongly recommended as you get a reply back with your SAR 2-3 weeks after filing. Whereas if you mail your FAFSA in, it generally takes 6-8 weeks to get your SAR. You can start the FAFSA filing process by going to: the federal government FAFSA website for more information and access to forms.

Notes:

1. Don't file early: The FAFSA form cannot be filed before January 1
2. Don't file late: Ask your financial aid advisor when they need the information to meet their financial aid award deadlines
3. Be completely accurate: Incorrect, incomplete, or poorly documented information can and will cause you to lose some or all of the financial aid for which you are available. Take the the time to do it right the first time, because there is no second time (until next year that is).

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/fafsa

PLUS Loans

PLUS Loans are loans that your parents can get to pay for your undergraduate degree expenses provided that you are enrolled at least half time. A key requirement of this is that your parents must have no adverse credit history. Your parents can apply by filling our a PLUS Loan application. While it is not required, having the student fill out a FAFSA form enables their parents receive the maximum amount of financial aid for which the student is eligible.

One of the most attractive parts of PLUS loans is that there is no need to determine your "Expected Family Contribution" (EFC) as must be done with other form of federal financial aid. This makes the process simpler. However, you are still limited to the amount of money required to pay your tuition, fees, room and board.

After filling out the loan application, one of the first steps is a credit check. If they do not pass the credit check, your parents will need to get someone with better credit history to co-sign the loan, or demonstrate that there were extenuating circumstances leading to the past credit problems.

Under Direct Loan programs, it will not be necessary to find a lender, as the federal government will be the lender. Under a FFEL Program, your parents will need to find a participating lender. Contacting your school or your state's education agencies is a good place to start

The amount your parents can borrow is equivalent to the amount you need to pay in educational expenses (tuition, fees, room and borad) minus the amount you receive in other financial aid. So if your educational expenses are $5000, and you receive $3000 in other finiancial aid, your parents could then borrow an additional $2000 as part of a PLUS loan.

Your school first received the funds, and then may require your parents to immediately endorse a check back to the school. The amounts received will first be applied to tuition, fees, and room and board, and any leftover amounts will be sent to your parents, unless they authorize the release of the funds back to you.

Your school is required to notify you in writing of each deposit to your account (or to send you a check). You may cancel the loan at any time by providing a notice in writing to your school. Once you provide such notice, you will receive no more funds, and if you provide such notice within 14 days of the last deposit to your account (or the date of the last check), you may return that last deposit (or check). All other funds you may have received prior to that, however, still constitute a loan and still need to be repaid.

The interest rate is variable, but will not exceed 9 percent. For the perdio from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004, the interest rate was set at 4.22 percent. Interest rates are adjusted every year on July 1. Your parents will have to pay a fee of up to 4% of the total amount of the loan.

PLUS Loans do not come with a grace period. Repayment must begin within 60 days of the initial receipt of funds. Under certain circumstances your parents can obtain additional deferrments, but these types of deferrment must be applied for, and are not automatic. The federal government subsidizes the interest during any deferrment.

Source: The Student Guide, published by the US Department of Education. Note that federal financial aid programs are subject to change. Check with the school(s) of your choice to get the very latest information.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/plus_loans

CSS Profile

What is it and how does it work?

CSS Profiles are similar to FAFSA forms in that they are forms you fill out in order to qualify for certain types of fianancial aid. The CSS Profile is administered by the College Scholarship division of the College Board. Your CSS Profile can be created either online or offline. The online form is the better way to go, because it has some built in error checking, which helps eliminate errors and speed processing. CSS Profiles are used by colleges, and universities to determine if you qualify for non-government based financial aid (such as grants, loans and scholarships).

The CSS Profile is more demanding than the FAFSA, as it evaluates more of your assets (such as if you own a house) in calculating an Effective Family Contribution (EFC). This means that is requires more information and is therefore harder to fill out. In addition, students are expected to make a minimum contribution (FAFSA does not require this) ranging from $900 for freshman to $1500 for seniors.

So far this sounds like more work for less money, but looks can be deceiving. CSS Profiles are required for certain types of non-government financial aid. These programs can be critical to filling out your complete financial aid package, so you may end up needing to fill out both forms. Financial aid can ultimately come from multiple sources. A CSS Profile costs $5, plus $17 for each school that requires your CSS Profile. An additional charge of $2 applies if you submit a paper CSS Profile.

CSS Profiles are designed for use in more discretionary college grants, loans, and scholarships. For that reason, the CSS Profile provides financial aid counselors more latitude in deciding how awards are made. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your particular circumstances. You can learn more about CDD profiles as the College Board website.

http://www.education-online-search.com/articles/financial_aid/css_profile