HPSP + other scholarship

[SgtDoc]

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Sorry if this has been asked, but I can't seem to find it. Say I am doing HPSP and I also am getting an additional scholarship. Does HPSP still cover the entire tuition, or do they factor in outside scholarships? And please don't turn this in to a "why would you do HPSP if you are getting a scholarship argument!" At this point it's really just for my own interest. Thanks!

 

[SgtDoc]

Awww, typo in the heading. Oops.😳

 

[elderjack21]

On this same note...does the school's financial aid office count your stipend like it would loan money, in the sense that it will limit the amount of loans you can take out from their office?

(COA is say 65k, HSPS pays 40k in tuition and fees, and gives another 20000 in stipend..does that mean I am only eligible for 5k in loans from the financial aid office, or can I take out 10 or 15k?)

Thanks.

 

[350011]

On this same note...does the school's financial aid office count your stipend like it would loan money, in the sense that it will limit the amount of loans you can take out from their office?

(COA is say 65k, HSPS pays 40k in tuition and fees, and gives another 20000 in stipend..does that mean I am only eligible for 5k in loans from the financial aid office, or can I take out 10 or 15k?)

Thanks.

After your first year I think you'd have to report the stipend and active duty pay as income on the FAFSA as they are taxed as income. That would directly affect your eligibility for subsidized/unsubsidized Perkins and Stafford loans and may impact your eligibility for certain need-based institutional aid. If the scholarship is paid directly to the University I'd imagine the billing office would simply accept the difference between what has been paid by that scholarship and the total tuition and fees from the HPS program. Keep in mind that the HPSP pays all tuition and fees, so there shouldn't be a gap between total cost of attendence and your cumulative resources unless you live somewhere that's incredibly expensive (eg NYC, LA, Boston, Chicago Loop (Northwestern)). And, even in those cases there is often subsidized housing available in the immediate area and cheaper housing available elsewhere.

 

[FutureNavyFP]

Sorry if this has been asked, but I can't seem to find it. Say I am doing HPSP and I also am getting an additional scholarship. Does HPSP still cover the entire tuition, or do they factor in outside scholarships? And please don't turn this in to a "why would you do HPSP if you are getting a scholarship argument!" At this point it's really just for my own interest. Thanks!

I'll tell you how it works at my school. I am allowed to borrow a set amount of money. Lets say $58,000 per year as an example. Tuition and stipend may total $48,000. You could borrow the remaining $10,000 if you want to or get it through another scholorship. I don't know if you could get anything above the set amount or not, I haven't tried.

 

[encourageable]

This happened to me. My school counts my entire HPSP package, including tuition, fees, stipend, books, etc. as a scholarship. This comes to about 55k a year, which is going to go up this summer. Our school budget is in the low 60s. There is a rule at my school, which I'm not sure but seems to have some basis in federal law, that a student cannot recieve more scholarship money than the student budget. The school had awarded me a merit scholarship, but had to reduce it to the difference between the student budget and the HPSP package.

Note this is a school rule, not a HPSP rule. HPSP doesn't know about any other money you're getting, and they don't care or adjust your package accordingly. There's a clause about outside aid in the Navy HPSP handbook. You're allowed to accept other aid as long as it is not federal and provided it doesn't commit you to anything that would keep you from the Navy at your scheduled graduation date.

If you're talking need based aid, they would likely factor the HPSP package into your fafsa somehow.

Also, I recieved an additional grant for a research project I did, which was not disbursed from my school. That year I got that I got more total aid than the student budget, because the people who gave me the grant don't have to follow the rule about the student budget. My school however cut their scholarship to me for that year.

Don't know about loans.

Contact the medical school's financial aid office for their exact rules.

Hope this helps. I won't try talk you out of the military. But seriously, if you can't keep all that scholarship money, consider FAP. They're paying people nearly 70k a year now in addition to civilian resident pay, and you get much more freedom about specialty and training location.

 

[Dr. Wexler]

HPSP doesn't know about any other money you're getting, and they don't care or adjust your package accordingly.

But I imagine in most cases any grants/scholarships are applied before the Army/Navy/Air Force gets the bill...in which case the gov't will just end up paying less. Unless you can convince your school to give you a refund on the grant/scholarship and then bill the gov't for the full tuition costs (a la the tuition deposit).

There's a clause about outside aid in the Navy HPSP handbook.

I can't find any clause about it.


Although it might be tempting to keep your outside aid on the DL and hope you get to pocket it, this might be more trouble than it's worth if you get "caught". The financial aid administrators I know would not take too kindly to someone saying "hey, i know I'm getting all tuition and fees paid PLUS a stipend, but is there any way I can keep this (non need-based) grant money?" when there are other taking out boatloads of loans to pay for school.

 

[encourageable]

I can't find any clause about it.

http://navmedmpte.med.navy.mil/accessions/StudentHandbook.pdf

page 15, section 2-7

 

[Dr. Wexler]

http://navmedmpte.med.navy.mil/accessions/StudentHandbook.pdf

page 15, section 2-7

Thanks. I don't know how I missed that.

 

[elderjack21]

After your first year I think you'd have to report the stipend and active duty pay as income on the FAFSA as they are taxed as income. That would directly affect your eligibility for subsidized/unsubsidized Perkins and Stafford loans and may impact your eligibility for certain need-based institutional aid. If the scholarship is paid directly to the University I'd imagine the billing office would simply accept the difference between what has been paid by that scholarship and the total tuition and fees from the HPS program. Keep in mind that the HPSP pays all tuition and fees, so there shouldn't be a gap between total cost of attendence and your cumulative resources unless you live somewhere that's incredibly expensive (eg NYC, LA, Boston, Chicago Loop (Northwestern)). And, even in those cases there is often subsidized housing available in the immediate area and cheaper housing available elsewhere.

That much "income" doesn't hurt you much on FAFSA too much....especially if you have dependants. Which is why I am interested in knowing whether they count it (the stipend) as a "scholarship" or as income. If it is income then I could still get subsidized/unsubsidized loans to cover some of the other costs associated with supporting a family (like health insurance), if it is counted as a scholarship to be used to cover your living expenses then I will have to take out private loans as opposed to government ones.

Thanks for the info.

 

[elderjack21]

My school counts my entire HPSP package, including tuition, fees, stipend, books, etc. as a scholarship.

Here is the problem with that...it isn't a scholarship. Sure that is the name of it...but scholarships tend to be "free" money. It is more like a work contract that obligates you to a future company for a set period of time. (sure the military is more than that...but that is what HPSP is).

It is money that you will be earning through a number of ways...just like taking out student loans.

But...I suppose if you rename it, it sounds less appealing. "Health Professions Military Contract" "Health Professions Servitude Agreement"...I digress

 

[NavyFP]

Here is the problem with that...it isn't a scholarship. Sure that is the name of it...but scholarships tend to be "free" money. It is more like a work contract that obligates you to a future company for a set period of time. (sure the military is more than that...but that is what HPSP is).

It is money that you will be earning through a number of ways...just like taking out student loans.

But...I suppose if you rename it, it sounds less appealing. "Health Professions Military Contract" "Health Professions Servitude Agreement"...I digress

Congress from on high has designated it a scholarship. Since they truly make the rules..........it is a scholarship. I agree, it is indentured servitude, but voluntarily entered.

 

[elderjack21]

Congress from on high has designated it a scholarship. Since they truly make the rules..........it is a scholarship. I agree, it is indentured servitude, but voluntarily entered.

How nice of them to do so.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

Congress from on high has designated it a scholarship. Since they truly make the rules..........it is a scholarship. I agree, it is indentured servitude, but voluntarily entered.

It used to be competitive to get an HPSP "scholarship", but not any more, not for a while now. Hard to imagine they once turned applicants down.

 

[Homunculus]

Awww, typo in the heading. Oops.😳

fixed.

--your friendly neighborhood thread editing caveman

 

[SgtDoc]

fixed.

--your friendly neighborhood thread editing caveman

Thanks!

 

[NavyFP]

It used to be competitive to get an HPSP "scholarship", but not any more, not for a while now. Hard to imagine they once turned applicants down.

Still do. There are some who apply who do not make the cut. Just adding warm bodies does no one any good.

 

[350011]

Got kind of confused by this so I asked my brother for his read on it as a CPA; that said this may only apply in Wisco. The "scholarship" portion would comprise the value paid by the government for tuition and fees as stipulated in the AFHPSP contract, but you'r still eligible for educational income tax-credits or something like that. The stipend component of the HPSP payout is taxable income (in WI) just like other graduate stipends/fellowships. But Wisconsin doesn't tax certain active duty pay, which is nice for the future. His impression is that this would be generalizable as most states tax graduate stipends (his example was for PhD students) as income while scholarships/grants do not create tax liability for the individual when they're not directly dispursed.

I would agree with your point. An annual income of 20K is not particularly worrisome and the more important factor for the FAFSA is assets and savings. I will say, though, that for many of us (without financial obligations beyond our own maintenance and enjoyment) this will not be an issue. If that is your only source of income and you have minimal assets (car and house in particular) then you'd still be eligible for Sub. Perkins and Stafford.

My question is how much of our sitpend will go to educational expenses? Furthermore, are educational expenses for medical school tax deductable, and are expenses beyond allowances from the Military tax deductible? For instance we get a $500, one-time uniform allowance, untaxed. But the cost of a full sea bag is around $1200 or more. The advice I've been given is to keep track of all medical school and HPSP expenses with receipts/invoices/billing statements and get to know a good accountant.

 

[FutureNavyFP]

My question is how much of our sitpend will go to educational expenses? Furthermore, are educational expenses for medical school tax deductable, and are expenses beyond allowances from the Military tax deductible? For instance we get a $500, one-time uniform allowance, untaxed. But the cost of a full sea bag is around $1200 or more. The advice I've been given is to keep track of all medical school and HPSP expenses with receipts/invoices/billing statements and get to know a good accountant.

1. At first you will be probably shell out quite a bit of money out of pocket for books and supplies. You should be reimbursed later for them after you submit the paperwork (as long as they are required). If you are talking about pure out of pocket expenses (without reimbursement), it will depend on how much "extra" stuff you will think you will need. I spent a couple hundred $$ each semester on stuff I thought I needed that wasn't reimbursed.
2. Your brother may have to answer that one. I never tried to deduct school supplies (I always got everything back anyways).

That is good advice to keep everything, especially since you will need the receipts for the reimbursements. As far as the accountant, I personally haven't needed one because I don't make crap for money as a student. Maybe when I graduate and start making more money it will become necessary to know one?