Marriage and Financial Aid

[MichiMO]

I was just wondering, does getting married while you are in medical school change your ability to get financial aid. I am currently considered an indepedent student and get all of my tuition and living expenses covered in sub. and unsub. loans.
I was just wondering if I would have some sort of expected contribution if I were to get married due to my spouse's income?
Anyone have any experience with this?

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[Seaglass]

I am married in med school. They do count your spouse's income but you can then decline it. At my school it made no difference in the amount of aid I could get or the format of that aid (sub, unsub). FYI other schools may do it differently. Why don't you ask the financial aid people at your school? I'm sure they get this question all the time.

C

 

[EM Junkie]

Here at UT-Houston, they count my wife's income in my EFC, but the EFC means nothing. You can still get your entire bill + living expenses covered by Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans. I do agree with cg1155, every school is different!

-Scott

 

[pxz]

They do expect some contribution from your spouse's income. While it probably doesn't matter to get loans (sub, unsub), it makes difference in getting grants/schloarships. My school tends to give small scholarships ( $2,000-3,000 average) to 70-80% of our students and I received none in the last two years. It sucks to see that some of my BMW-driving classmates receive the free money because they "need" it.

 

[Fermi]

You will at least have to report your spouse's income on the FAFSA, but after that it's up to the school to determine your financial aid situation. I don't know what cg1155 means by "declining" your spouse's income, I've never heard of that. But unless your spouse makes a lot of money, the only thing it will really affect is need-based grants/scholarships, which will go to students with smaller EFCs.

But look at it this way. If your spouse has a good salary at a full-time job with health insurance, then you probably aren't in "need" of the living expenses part of your budget at all.

 

[Seaglass]

As far as declining, at my school you simply tell them to disregard your EFC when determining your financial aid.

C

 

[MichiMO]

Originally posted by Fermi

But look at it this way. If your spouse has a good salary at a full-time job with health insurance, then you probably aren't in "need" of the living expenses part of your budget at all.

Actually, my medical school is in a city 2 hours south of were my spouse will most likely be working, so we will have to support two separate households...thats why I am worried. Though, maybe having to support two households alone would exempt us from any contribution we might be expected to make if we were sharing the same household.