Student Loans/Internship Question

[DazedAndConfuse]

Oh, goodness. I am sure I am not the only second year PsyD student out there who is already stressing about internship. One thing that is particularly stressing me out is my student loans. I know the loans continue to defer during the internship year because I am still enrolled, but I have another question.

My program has 3 years of classes instead of the typical 4, so I will probably have at least one year (if not 2) when I am not technically taking a full course load before going on internship. What are my options for student loans during this time? Is there a lower amount that I will have access to because I am taking fewer credits? I know my tuition would be lower those years....

I have asked multiple people in my program, professors, and employees in the financial aid office on campus, and everyone tells me something different. Anyone who can give me a definitive answer (maybe someone who has been there? ) would be much appreciated! Thanks!

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[CPsychYeah]

Not sure what options are available to you, but during my Master's program, it took everyone a semester or two to finish internship hour requirements during which they registered for few to no credit hours. My university provided a class registration code that was just generic "graduate, full-time status" that we could use to fulfill our "full time" need while we were unable to register for enough credit hours to actually satisfy that. I wonder if your school may have something like this available if your situation is common.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

It's going to depend on your university and department. We have a variety of non-class codes we can sign up for (assuming they're actually valid), such as general research hours, general practicum hours, and dissertation hours. The number of hours you sign up for in each of those categories can vary from 1 to upwards of 9, I believe.

For most federal student aid, I believe you need to be enrolled at least half-time, which should get you full access to aid. I think. If you're registered less than half-time, I have no idea for what, if anything, you'd be eligible. The federal aid and/or your school's financial aid websites should have information on this, though.

 

[voyeurofthemind]

Not sure what options are available to you, but during my Master's program, it took everyone a semester or two to finish internship hour requirements during which they registered for few to no credit hours. My university provided a class registration code that was just generic "graduate, full-time status" that we could use to fulfill our "full time" need while we were unable to register for enough credit hours to actually satisfy that. I wonder if your school may have something like this available if your situation is common.

-This


Same, during my MA our one credit internship still coded us as "Full-time" for financial aid purposes. I imagine it is the same at the doc level.