Financial Aid

[futurept80]

I just recieved my financial aid award in the mail for the school that I am attending in the fall and just wanted to get a rough estimate from anyone, particularly current or past DPT students, about how much I should accept. I was offered well over enough to cover my tuition, living expenses, and extracurricular activities. However, because I want to borrow as little as possible, should i only accept what will cover the bare minimum or a little extra? I have some money saved up for school but im not sure if that will cover the cost of fees not related to school. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. I've already decided that I am going to be in debt for a very long time after PT school but I would like to limit to some extent. Thanks!

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[durandel]

I assume you were offered the Graduate PLUS loan, and since that's fixed at a higher interest rate than the Stafford Loan, if you're able to you may want to reject anything beyond the 20 grand you get from the Stafford (depending on your school's tuition). At the same time, you'll need around 2 thousand for books and misc. fees.

Tuition for this first year for me may be around 25 grand...I'm planning on taking all of the Stafford, and maybe paying for around 5 grand out of pocket, depending on my comfort level (which would deplete roughly half of what I have saved up). That'll leave a little for unexpected expenses (additional commuting costs as well) for that first year. I may even keep a little more than that in the bank this first year just to play it safe, and then pay that much more the second year (even the unsubsidized loans of the first year would accrue interest during that year).

I'm sure this situation varies for individuals depending on their tuition and financial situation. I think the best approach is to embrace these as the "lean years" so that when I come out the other side I'll have less of a burden to dump. For example, if you come out with around 70 grand in debt, that's like 800/mo. for 10 years I think, depending on the interest rate.