Financial Aid

[doucette]

Hi all! I've been accepted to 4 programs and am waitlisted at 2. I'm trying to figure out how financial aid works for grad school because I haven't heard anything about what my FAFSA loans will be or about non-loan options. When I call the schools they are saying March/April for financial aid packets to come out. What is everyone else doing about this? How are we supposed to make decisions if we don't know how much money we're being granted?

 

[WagDPT]

Congrats on the acceptances!

From what I've gathered talking to FA advisors, FAFSA will offer you 2 forms of loans: A Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and Grad PLUS loans. In terms of grants/scholarships, some schools have some available to students, but they are much more limited than undergrad. Try to contact each school individually to see what kind of scholarships they have available to PT students. Some schools also offer graduate assistantships where you may be able to work as a research assistant, for example, and recieve a stipend for your tuition, so try to ask them about that as well. Make sure to say you're interested in federal study on FAFSA as some schools can offer you on campus part-time jobs. Other than that, your options are really down to external scholarships or private loans.

 

[doucette]

Congrats on the acceptances!

From what I've gathered talking to FA advisors, FAFSA will offer you 2 forms of loans: A Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and Grad PLUS loans. In terms of grants/scholarships, some schools have some available to students, but they are much more limited than undergrad. Try to contact each school individually to see what kind of scholarships they have available to PT students. Some schools also offer graduate assistantships where you may be able to work as a research assistant, for example, and recieve a stipend for your tuition, so try to ask them about that as well. Make sure to say you're interested in federal study on FAFSA as some schools can offer you on campus part-time jobs. Other than that, your options are really down to external scholarships or private loans.

thank you!!