Nontrad student as post-Bac do not qualify for federal loans or Financial aid

[DrBoost]

Hi for all of you have have graduated already and then took premed classes at a 4-year university did you guys pay out of pocket? Apparently here in Michigan I called 4 universities and all of them said coming in as a post bac/non degree student no one qualifies for financial aid nor any federal loans, only Private loans any thoughts? None of these schools have a pre-med Post Bac program in place you just take classes at your own pace and register as a non degree student.
talked to the following schools.

Oakland University
UM- Ann Arbor
Wayne State
UM- Dearborn

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[DrMidlife]

This isn't about being a nontrad, it's about not being in a degree-seeking program. Unstructured/informal/adhoc class-taking means you're on your own.

Structured formal premed postbac programs tend to have "made arrangements" for financial aid.

You can also look into doing a 2nd bachelors.

Best of luck to you.

 

[MT Headed]

This isn't about being a nontrad, it's about not being in a degree-seeking program. Unstructured/informal/adhoc class-taking means you're on your own.

Structured formal premed postbac programs tend to have "made arrangements" for financial aid.

You can also look into doing a 2nd bachelors.

Best of luck to you.

Is there anything unethical about (lol, any sentence that starts out "is there anything unethical about..." generally gets answered YES) pretending to be degree-seeking just to get access to the financial aid, and then taking whatever classes you feel like? The standard pre-reqs generally line up well with a chemistry degree or a biology degree, so what if you "claimed" to be seeking one of those?

Degree-seeking vs. non-degree-seeking might affect the tuition as well, though I don't know in what direction.

 

[theseeker4]

Hi for all of you have have graduated already and then took premed classes at a 4-year university did you guys pay out of pocket? Apparently here in Michigan I called 4 universities and all of them said coming in as a post bac/non degree student no one qualifies for financial aid nor any federal loans, only Private loans any thoughts? None of these schools have a pre-med Post Bac program in place you just take classes at your own pace and register as a non degree student.
talked to the following schools.

Oakland University
UM- Ann Arbor
Wayne State
UM- Dearborn

This is interesting. I took my post-bac classes at Wayne State, registered and took the classes on my own and I qualified for federal Stafford Loans. Maybe they changed the rules, but this was only a few years ago, I took the last of the classes with the loan in 2008. File your FAFSA and it should tell you what you qualify for and what you don't. Mine said I was eligible for the Stafford Loans, the conditions of which were (IIRC) I had to be taking classes toward admission to a (graduate?) program and not taking classes toward a degree.

Or you can simply say you are seeking a degree, and "change your mind" about finishing the degree when you are accepted to medical school.

 

[LifeTake2]

Is there anything unethical about (lol, any sentence that starts out "is there anything unethical about..." generally gets answered YES) pretending to be degree-seeking just to get access to the financial aid, and then taking whatever classes you feel like? The standard pre-reqs generally line up well with a chemistry degree or a biology degree, so what if you "claimed" to be seeking one of those?

Degree-seeking vs. non-degree-seeking might affect the tuition as well, though I don't know in what direction.

This is not unethical.

Simply put, declare a major in Chemistry or Bio; then take the sciences you need and apply for medical school. The # of people that start a BS and never finish is amazing, you would be no different. You get financial aid, you get the ability (at many schools) to register for classes as a senior, etc.

 

[ARE83]

This is not unethical.

Simply put, declare a major in Chemistry or Bio; then take the sciences you need and apply for medical school. The # of people that start a BS and never finish is amazing, you would be no different. You get financial aid, you get the ability (at many schools) to register for classes as a senior, etc.

Agree - not unethical. This is what I've done for the past 3 years after taking pretty much the same approach as LifeTake2's signature indicates. Have my bachelor's, needed to take the basic pre-med curriculum because my degree is in the humanities, but the college closest to me didn't have a post-bacc program in place. I too was told that I could not receive financial aid unless I was in a degree-seeking program, but the financial aid office at my college simply told me to sign up as a degree-seeking student in order to get federal loans, even though they and I know I have no intention of completing a degree in Biology. I never transferred credits from my bachelor's, so on paper I'm only a sophomore, but that doesn't really make much of a difference for my registration. Also, I keep my credits low so I'm classified as a part-time student, which gives me the ability to pay per-credit rather than the full tuition - saves me about $10k per year in loans and prevents me from needing to take out huge private loans once I've met my federal loan limit for the year. Lord knows I'll have enough debt once I start med school next fall!!

 

[ARE83]

Oh - and since I already have my bachelor's, I signed up through the continuing ed program at my college so I could avoid the red-tape of admissions. Made the process much easier.

 

[DrBoost]

Thanks a lot for some great suggestions, I believe its a great idea to enroll as a degree seeking student and compete all the science prerequisites I hope while I do that later on when I get into the MD program the Federal loans and the financial aid folks have no issues with me not completing the second degree and asking loans for the third degree lol.

 

[DrBoost]

Agree - not unethical. This is what I've done for the past 3 years after taking pretty much the same approach as LifeTake2's signature indicates. Have my bachelor's, needed to take the basic pre-med curriculum because my degree is in the humanities, but the college closest to me didn't have a post-bacc program in place. I too was told that I could not receive financial aid unless I was in a degree-seeking program, but the financial aid office at my college simply told me to sign up as a degree-seeking student in order to get federal loans, even though they and I know I have no intention of completing a degree in Biology. I never transferred credits from my bachelor's, so on paper I'm only a sophomore, but that doesn't really make much of a difference for my registration. Also, I keep my credits low so I'm classified as a part-time student, which gives me the ability to pay per-credit rather than the full tuition - saves me about $10k per year in loans and prevents me from needing to take out huge private loans once I've met my federal loan limit for the year. Lord knows I'll have enough debt once I start med school next fall!!

I hope they don't impose other science classes on me and I can just register as a degree seeking student and just get done with my 8 required courses.

 

[LifeTake2]

I hope they don't impose other science classes on me and I can just register as a degree seeking student and just get done with my 8 required courses.

They can't impose anything on you, you are presumably an adult.

You have to take your pre-reqs, nothing else. If you wanted to earn the degree you would have to obviously take more classes, but YOU decide what you take so I'm not sure who you think would impose something on you.....

 

[DrBoost]

They can't impose anything on you, you are presumably an adult.

You have to take your pre-reqs, nothing else. If you wanted to earn the degree you would have to obviously take more classes, but YOU decide what you take so I'm not sure who you think would impose something on you.....

Not in that sense lol what I meant was like every bachelor degree has some set lower division classes that one must take before moving up. But I guess in premed courses it shouldn't be an issue since they are from lower division.

 

[ARE83]

Not in that sense lol what I meant was like every bachelor degree has some set lower division classes that one must take before moving up. But I guess in premed courses it shouldn't be an issue since they are from lower division.

I never had any problems with being told I had to take certain classes, and you're right - the pre-reqs for upper level science courses won't be an issue either since you'll be taking the lower level science courses. Financial aid once you get to med school shouldn't be an issue either - they're not going to "punish" you and prevent you from getting loans just because you didn't complete the second degree.

Think of it this way: if you had a degree in Business, changed your career plans and went back to school to get a second degree in Biology, but halfway through realized you really wanted to get an MBA, you would still be able to get loans to complete the MBA, even though you didn't complete the Biology degree. Same basic concept here.

There will be a cap on the total dollar amount you can have in federal loans, but that's the only thing the federal loan program cares about - not whether or not you completed each degree.

 

[premed1001]

so there is no way to get a fafsa loan for postbacc non degree seeking student?

I am reading that even if i do seek a second bacc degree i still cannot get a fafsa loan?

 

[deleted480308]

so there is no way to get a fafsa loan for postbacc non degree seeking student?

I am reading that even if i do seek a second bacc degree i still cannot get a fafsa loan?

Fafsa has a credit limit for bachelors degree, I know because I went over it due to multiple changes in my major. It all reboots for grad school. If you want postbac you can self pay at a community college to be cheap or if you just love debt you can do a masters for career changers

 

[akinetopsia]

Agree that it's definitely not unethical to classify yourself as a degree-seeking student to get financial aid. I was just going to do prerequisites when I went back after my B.A. in Government, but it turned out I liked the classes and ended up getting a second degree (B.S.) since I could complete it in about a year and a half while also doing prereqs. YMMV.

 

[Tommyguns89]

Im pretty sure this is incorrect. I am a non degree student and I get federal loans even though I already have a bachelors. There is something called a course of study form that you can fill out. It is made for people like us who already have a bachelors but need classes to get into a graduate program. You can get federal aid through loans for a 12 month period including summer sessions. I am in a different state but this is a federal program so that shouldnt matter.

 

[Tommyguns89]

Is there anything unethical about (lol, any sentence that starts out "is there anything unethical about..." generally gets answered YES) pretending to be degree-seeking just to get access to the financial aid, and then taking whatever classes you feel like? The standard pre-reqs generally line up well with a chemistry degree or a biology degree, so what if you "claimed" to be seeking one of those?

Degree-seeking vs. non-degree-seeking might affect the tuition as well, though I don't know in what direction.

Nothing unethical about it, however it is hard to do(at least in my state). The SUNY schools are overcrowded and underfunded so they are reluctant to accept second bachelors. It may be better in your state. If you can do it you should, though. If not you should still be eligible for some aid through the course of study form.

 

[premed1001]

Im pretty sure this is incorrect. I am a non degree student and I get federal loans even though I already have a bachelors. There is something called a course of study form that you can fill out. It is made for people like us who already have a bachelors but need classes to get into a graduate program. You can get federal aid through loans for a 12 month period including summer sessions. I am in a different state but this is a federal program so that shouldnt matter.

Are you doing post bacc at cc or university?

 

[Tommyguns89]

Im doing it at a university.

 

[Fedaykin]

Fafsa has a credit limit for bachelors degree, I know because I went over it due to multiple changes in my major. It all reboots for grad school. If you want postbac you can self pay at a community college to be cheap or if you just love debt you can do a masters for career changers

Regardless, there are still lifetime limits that are a little over $100k for cumulative federal loans- even if you've paid money back on them. It does get bumped significantly though if you're in a professional medical program.

 

[deleted480308]

Regardless, there are still lifetime limits that are a little over $100k for cumulative federal loans- even if you've paid money back on them. It does get bumped significantly though if you're in a professional medical program.

just noticed my school is exactly the limit of the health professions graduate program set by the government for loans........now try to tell me that student loans don't inflate pricing