Loans, FAFSA, etc as an MSTP

[Calf]

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As an MSTP student, you don't qualify for federal education loans do you? Do I need to fill out the FAFSA?

 

[gstrub]

There are many threads on this topic. Basically, if you school counts your stipend against your cost of education (i.e. as a scholarship), it reduces your FAFSA eligibility by that much, thus you wouldn't be able to borrow very much or nothing at all. If your university counts your pay as payroll and does not subtract it from your COE, you are eligible to borrow up to that much. For me, I can borrow ~$20,000 a year in FAFSA on top of my stipend.

In other words, ask your financial aid department.
-G

 

[Calf]

I haven't decided where I'm going yet, so I guess that means I should fill out the FAFSA?

Edit: Sorry, I should have searched better 😛.

Anyone know what the program policy is at UTSW or Vanderbilt?

 

[gstrub]

Filling out FAFSA can't hurt you, so if you are going to borrow, go ahead and fill it out. A simple call to any program you are interested in will get you a specific answer if you talk to the right person.

 

[gbwillner]

As an MSTP student, you don't qualify for federal education loans do you? Do I need to fill out the FAFSA?

You will qualify- probably not for too much. However, it will be more than you can get in subsidized stafford loans. I did this for all my grad school years- $8.5K per year.

 

[Neuronix]

You will qualify- probably not for too much. However, it will be more than you can get in subsidized stafford loans. I did this for all my grad school years- $8.5K per year.

It's funny, at my program you can't get any loans in grad school but can take out full sub and unsub for med school. This policy just varies widely from school to school. You'll typically have to talk to someone in fin aid to get a straight answer, as the MD/PhD administrations have no clue.