HPSP and Financial Aid

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Tiankum

Tiankum

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Anyone currently in dental school under the HPSP taking out student loans as well to subsidize your cost of living?

How much have they let you take out for your own situation? (I'm guessing everyone would have different limits as to how much aid they can receive based on their 'need'.)
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Tiankum said:
Anyone currently in dental school under the HPSP taking out student loans as well to subsidize your cost of living?

How much have they let you take out for your own situation? (I'm guessing everyone would have different limits as to how much aid they can receive based on their 'need'.)
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Well at UoP Im eligible to take out a max of 3K per yearly billing cycle or a total of 12K for dental school. yea I am pretty sure that it depends on how much extra eligibility you have after they account for your stipend.

I do hate this fact though: you get reimbursed for everything at school like books, loopes, ect but you have to buy them first with your own money and then send in the receipt for it to get reimbursed. However, you need a couple grand in disposable income (not coming from loans) before hand to even allow you to buy those supplies. Oh well. Oh and the first month or two they are late on stipend payments, so you have to have money saved up for that too. Besides that, HPSP is proly the best scholarship in the world out there...:cool:
 
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Avery07 said:
As if the stipend isn't already enough? What is it.. $1800?? Don't be stupid people.. stay out of debt.
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The stipend is currently 1992 unless they are planning on changing it in the next few months.

As for the OP's question, you can only take out in loans what the difference is that the school allocates as expenses. Basically when you went to an interview or checked with a school they can tell you what they report as being the max total a student is eligible to take out in loans. In our case having a stipend, it is usually already more than what they denote, but if not you can take out the remaining difference. For example I will only be able to take out an additional 2k a year.

And as for not taking out more money........you may want to consider the fact that if you take out only subsidized money (no interest) you can play with it or just keep it as back up. When you graduate just give it back minus any interest you made on it if you know your stuff.
 
It looks like the stipend just went up to $2060 per month!

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navme...rofessionsscholarshipprogram_prospective.aspx

They have also increased almost all of the dollar limits on supplies that you are reimbursed for. See below.

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navmedmpte/accessions/Pages/HSPSFAPBookandEquipmentReimbursment.aspx

Click the "Click Here" link in the Supplies and Equipment section for current amounts.

The HPSP Student Handbook is also being updated this month, and hopefully will be out soon.
 
This applies to 4 year Navy and Army HPSP students, they offered a 20,000 bonus which is MORE THAN ENOUGH to cover disposable funds to buy loupes, books, equipment and then get reimbursed later. If you get the bonus, i don't see why anyone needs to take out additional loans.....................
 
Herme said:
It looks like the stipend just went up to $2060 per month!

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navme...rofessionsscholarshipprogram_prospective.aspx

They have also increased almost all of the dollar limits on supplies that you are reimbursed for. See below.

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navmedmpte/accessions/Pages/HSPSFAPBookandEquipmentReimbursment.aspx

Click the "Click Here" link in the Supplies and Equipment section for current amounts.

The HPSP Student Handbook is also being updated this month, and hopefully will be out soon.
Click to expand...

Is that for all three branches?
 
agent2362 said:
Well at UoP Im eligible to take out a max of 3K per yearly billing cycle or a total of 12K for dental school. yea I am pretty sure that it depends on how much extra eligibility you have after they account for your stipend.

I do hate this fact though: you get reimbursed for everything at school like books, loopes, ect but you have to buy them first with your own money and then send in the receipt for it to get reimbursed. However, you need a couple grand in disposable income (not coming from loans) before hand to even allow you to buy those supplies. Oh well. Oh and the first month or two they are late on stipend payments, so you have to have money saved up for that too. Besides that, HPSP is proly the best scholarship in the world out there...:cool:
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I see that you need to get a little more financial savvy. Go get a Credit Card that has a decent limit($10,000 should do the trick), but make sure you get the cash back rewards.

You make your purchases on this, you get a month or sometimes more to pay it back without interest and then you get the 2-5% cash back rewards on top of everything you purchase.

This should be the model for everyone really. Pay off your cards in full every month(thus avoiding interest payments) and have the CC companies paying you, instead of the other way around. If you made 20-30,000 dollars in purchases throughout the year(whether re-reimbursed or not) that can equate to up to a grand in your own pocket extra each year.
 
thts awesome that the stipend went up to 2060.. does it go up every yr or somethin?
 
dentalmon said:
thts awesome that the stipend went up to 2060.. does it go up every yr or somethin?
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It has been the past few years. Although very slight increases, an increase is an increase!

People at my school are so jealous about HPSP students, even faculty admit it's one of the best deals available to students.
 
xhamburgersamx said:
This applies to 4 year Navy and Army HPSP students, they offered a 20,000 bonus which is MORE THAN ENOUGH to cover disposable funds to buy loupes, books, equipment and then get reimbursed later. If you get the bonus, i don't see why anyone needs to take out additional loans.....................
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In my case the additional loans would cover the cost of living and the 20K bonus is going towards a down payment on a house. Anyone previous HPSPer have a wife and kids in dental school? Were you allowed to take out a little more than just 2K a semester?
 
Tiankum said:
In my case the additional loans would cover the cost of living and the 20K bonus is going towards a down payment on a house. Anyone previous HPSPer have a wife and kids in dental school? Were you allowed to take out a little more than just 2K a semester?
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Cool, just ask your financial aide officer. Tell them you need more for living expenses because you have 2 dependents. A lot of people at my school take out extra 3-4K for housing but also at the same time, the COA usually does not cover extra equipment costs or supplies. Therefore, you can actually ask for even more money. So asking 5-6K per semester isnt that far fetched.

Usually, schools will let you take out the entire amount for housing, like 20K per year. Just ask and they will give it
 
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i am going to take out about 12k year on top of hpsp.
reason being is,
this is my first year and my housing is already at 1150/mo (in LA right next to USC campus). so after paying utilities, bills, etc., i would probably have less than $500 left to spend.. and i have gf who lives in texas so i want to have enough money so i can fly during the break, etc.
(and for attending USC, i don't think 20-30k loan after 4 years of ds is not that bad)

I am going to get the loan but if I end up not using them, I am going to use that to pay for my undergrad loan (because its interest will be accumulating even while i am in school). And after the first year, when I have clearer idea of my spending, I will adjust it the next year to more appropriate amount.

But yea, $2000 can be little bit hard to work with depending on the areas you will live in.
 
dentalmon said:
http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp

looking at this.. a dental officer right out of school would only make o -3.. which 3660.60 a month.. about 44k a year before tax..

thts kinda weak..
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Here's a pretty good calculator to see exactly what you would make (depending on location and dependents status)...

http://militarypay.defense.gov/mpcalcs/Calculators/RMC.aspx


Anyone currently in school and have a family and a house and still able to pull out financial aid??
 
I have a family and am just about to to start school and will be on Navy HPSP. At my school, they have made it clear that the school will not approve ANY financial aid for me since my HPSP will provide me with more than the school's cost of attendance already. However, I did find the Wells Fargo Education Connection Loan that I was able to take out. I was just dispersed to me. It is the only education loan that will allow you to take out more than the school's cost of attendance. Also, it is the only education loan that is not certified through your school.

It appears from other posts that whether or not you can get any aid in addition to HPSP depends on your school, but I do know that the Education Connection Loan is the only option without heading for private loans, which typically have interest rates "as low as" 12%-which means you'll actually get much higher than that. I got around 7.5% for my EC Loan-which is even lower than the Grad Plus loans. Also, since it is an education loan, the payments are deferred until 6 months after graduation.
 
I just finished my first year at BU dental school. I'm married and have a child, the school has a child care expense form that I have to fill out every year and they increase my budget due to that. However, if you have no children then they won't give you an increase, ie) your wife will have to work. They don't give us a huge increase but it helps make it possible to live in such an expensive place. Our 2 bedroom apartment is just over 1400/mo, plus elec/heat and I still have to commute for an hour each way. So as you can see that 1992/mo is gone almost as fast as it came in.
 
drkarl said:
I just finished my first year at BU dental school. I'm married and have a child, the school has a child care expense form that I have to fill out every year and they increase my budget due to that. However, if you have no children then they won't give you an increase, ie) your wife will have to work. They don't give us a huge increase but it helps make it possible to live in such an expensive place. Our 2 bedroom apartment is just over 1400/mo, plus elec/heat and I still have to commute for an hour each way. So as you can see that 1992/mo is gone almost as fast as it came in.
Click to expand...

Double check with your financial aid officer because in theory you are only receiving $1992 per month to live on. People take out loans in excess of $2000 per month to live. At least my school, one semester is allowed $8500 which covers just about 4 months which is a little more than $2000 per month. Living expenses in boston is probably more than here so I am VERY surprised you are not allowed to take out any more loans.
 
Has anyone taken the HPSP and go to Loma Linda and able to take out financial aid?
 
Herme said:
It appears from other posts that whether or not you can get any aid in addition to HPSP depends on your school, but I do know that the Education Connection Loan is the only option without heading for private loans, which typically have interest rates "as low as" 12%-which means you'll actually get much higher than that. I got around 7.5% for my EC Loan-which is even lower than the Grad Plus loans. Also, since it is an education loan, the payments are deferred until 6 months after graduation.
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Thanks for that info Herme... I'm going to check into that.
 
Does anybody know if your school's financial aid office can take student loans back? Kind of a weird question, I know, but I won't be commissioning for my HPSP until a few weeks into school, so my school just offered me the whole loan package as if I were not going to be on the HPSP. So I'm wondering if I were to accept the subsidized portion that they offered me for this fall semester, if they can take that back or call it due or something once my HPSP kicks in.

I guess part of my concern comes about since I've spoken with my school's fin aid office, and they have made it clear that the school will not approve ANY loans for me since my stipend already gives me more than they calculated for my living expenses in their Cost of Attendance.
 
Herme said:
Does anybody know if your school's financial aid office can take student loans back? Kind of a weird question, I know, but I won't be commissioning for my HPSP until a few weeks into school, so my school just offered me the whole loan package as if I were not going to be on the HPSP. So I'm wondering if I were to accept the subsidized portion that they offered me for this fall semester, if they can take that back or call it due or something once my HPSP kicks in.

I guess part of my concern comes about since I've spoken with my school's fin aid office, and they have made it clear that the school will not approve ANY loans for me since my stipend already gives me more than they calculated for my living expenses in their Cost of Attendance.
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According to my fin aid office (Loma Linda) they told me that if I take the HPSP then they will require full payback of my loans that they have offered me. I'm in the same boat as you man. I commission 1 Sept. My fin aid office will disperse around then...so I'm probably not going to take the loans because as soon as I commission they will tell me I need to give it all back. I am going to talk to the head of the fin aid department tomorrow about the whole thing and see if there isn't something I can get them to do...as far as help me out with finances...what I'm going to be getting from the Navy isn't going to cover all my cost of living (I'm married with 3 kids and have a mortgage). I'll let you know if they bend at all to THEIR rules (they won't let me have any loans either).
 
Herme..

Spoke to my financial aid office today. They won't budge on increasing my cost of living to where it would help at all. They say they only are allowed to increase a student's cost of living allowance $500 each year. And it caps at $2070...which is what the navy provides as a stipend...so they said I don't have a chance at getting approved for ANY loans. The only other option is taking out private loans and making the minimum payments on them while in school. It's almost like they punish you if you take the military scholarship.

Oh... and if you take out loans before the military pays your tuition...the financial aid office will then take the loans back as soon as they do get paid...not that they make you pay it..but that they use the money the HPSP pays them to pay off your loans...so it's like you never took them out.
 
Tiankum,

Hmmm...That's pretty much what I was afraid of. I guess they don't expect any students to have a wife who is a stay-at-home mom. It seems a bit ridiculous that they will not give you any loans to supplement your stipend. It's not like it costs them anything. We have to pay it back, and what we would owe would be minuscule compared to most of the other students. I mean, technically, that stipend we are receiving is taxable income that we are "working" for as a Ensign. They shouldn't really even be able to count that as aid IMO--not that I am complaining because I a thankful for the HPSP for sure! If I were somehow able to work a part-time job earning an extra $24k a year, would they reduce the amount of aid I could get? I don't know. Not going to worry about it though. I have my Education Connection Loan sitting in the bank, so I'll be fine. Oh well!

You mentioned you are commissioning Sept 1, right? Did you get any paperwork or anything about you commissioning date, or did your recruiter just let you know? Mine have been saying Sept 1, but my commissioning docs have been processing for months. I am going to give them a call and see if I can prod things along.
 
Tiankum said:
Herme..

Spoke to my financial aid office today. They won't budge on increasing my cost of living to where it would help at all. They say they only are allowed to increase a student's cost of living allowance $500 each year. And it caps at $2070...which is what the navy provides as a stipend...so they said I don't have a chance at getting approved for ANY loans. The only other option is taking out private loans and making the minimum payments on them while in school. It's almost like they punish you if you take the military scholarship.

Oh... and if you take out loans before the military pays your tuition...the financial aid office will then take the loans back as soon as they do get paid...not that they make you pay it..but that they use the money the HPSP pays them to pay off your loans...so it's like you never took them out.
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My school told me the same thing today, they even pulled a 10K "achievement" scholarship. Oh well.....I am better off with HPSP.

I think that private loans also give you the option of deferment (interest capitalizing) while in school. I sure they will bend you over the interest rate though:eek:.
I thought previous HPSP students were able to take you fin aid in previous years? I even heard of a student using the fin aid to pay off most of a house that he rented out after dental school while he was stationed elsewhere. Was it the stipend increase?
 
New2Philly said:
My school told me the same thing today, they even pulled a 10K "achievement" scholarship. Oh well.....I am better off with HPSP.

I think that private loans also give you the option of deferment (interest capitalizing) while in school. I sure they will bend you over the interest rate though:eek:.
I thought previous HPSP students were able to take you fin aid in previous years? I even heard of a student using the fin aid to pay off most of a house that he rented out after dental school while he was stationed elsewhere. Was it the stipend increase?
Click to expand...

A good thing about the Navy's HSCP program (which is better if you go to a low tuition dental school) is that if you need to take out student loans then you can because the HSCP program is not a scholarship. It is considered an actual job as you are paid a salary, not a stipend and scholarship. So, shold expenses arise that you need a little extra funding, you can take out student loans. For me, I am actually taking out federal student loans this year to pay for the tuition for my girls to go to a Montessori school (about $25,000 for the year - only about $5,000 more than it would cost to put them into daycare). I could pay out of pocket, but then I would have to be conservative in my spending, so I am taking out loans to pay for my school and use my salary to pay for their school.

So, for those who are questioning military programs, the Navy's HSCP prgram does allow you to take out additional funding if needed without being penalized and being forced to take out private loans.
 
Anyone else know of any other uncertified private student loans besides the Wells Fargo Education Connection Loan?
 
Tiankum said:
Herme..

Spoke to my financial aid office today. They won't budge on increasing my cost of living to where it would help at all. They say they only are allowed to increase a student's cost of living allowance $500 each year. And it caps at $2070...which is what the navy provides as a stipend...so they said I don't have a chance at getting approved for ANY loans. The only other option is taking out private loans and making the minimum payments on them while in school. It's almost like they punish you if you take the military scholarship.

Oh... and if you take out loans before the military pays your tuition...the financial aid office will then take the loans back as soon as they do get paid...not that they make you pay it..but that they use the money the HPSP pays them to pay off your loans...so it's like you never took them out.
Click to expand...

Man! your financial aide office is horrendous. People at my school live in apartments that cost $1500/month and take out anywhere from 300-500 more per month with ease.

Maybe it was just the first year, but before you start dental school, the financial aide office has no idea you are on HPSP until after a month later when the military pays your tuition fees. Therefore just before you start school, take out as much loans as you can. When the military money comes in, you get automatically refunded since you have already paid off your tuition/fees with loans. Now the military credit becomes your "loan" per se.

It's not impossible to take out more loans for educational purposes. The school is supposed to provide you "X" amount for cost of living and if you can show proof you need extra money, I can't see why won't allow it.
 
"HPSP students take out additional student loans all the time. However, the Department of Education decided about four years ago, to deduct the amount of stipend from the amount available on a FAFSA loan. They (DOE) discovered that HPSP students were double dipping and leveled the playing field, so that HPSP students were not getting 60 or 70K a year and buying BMWs."


Thought this would be insightful to all who are wondering if they can still take out financial aid after accepting the HPSP. I was told this by one of the commanding officers over the HPSP.
 
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