Paying for Vet School Out of State? Advice please!

[HAWAIIVET2011]

So if my out of state tuition for vet school is $44,000 a year, what would you suggest is the best way to pay for this? I qualify for 8,500 subsidized stafford loans and 12,000 unsubsidized stafford loans = $20,500, still leaving me around 35,000 needed to pay for the other half of the tuition plus living expenses?! Would you recommend Gradplus loans at a 7.9% interest? Or is there a better private loan company out there I should look into. What are you guys planning on doing, or current students, what did/do you do?

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[GellaBella]

Typically grad students qualify for around $40k in Federal Direct loans. The remainder I took out in Grad Plus. Its a higher APR but was lower than many other private loans I looked into. From threads in previous years I think people tend to take Grad Plus as well but definitely look around to see if you can secure something with a lower APR

 

[HAWAIIVET2011]

40K in stafford loans? I just looked at their website and they said the MAXIMUM stafford loan for school is as follows

Dependent student1 Independent student2 1st-year undergraduate $5,500 (maximum $3,500 subsidized) $9,500 ($3,500)3 2nd-year undergraduate $6,500 ($4,500) $10,500 ($4,500) 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduate $7,500 ($5,500) $12,500 ($5,500) Graduate/professional NA (All graduate and professional students are considered independent.) $20,500 ($8,500)
So my 20,500 is the MAX loan I can get from Federal Aid Direct loans. Is there something I'm missing? Or another route I am supposed to look into?

 

[ORvetgirl]

The number quoted for graduates doesn't apply to med/vet professional students. They know you can't really work while in these programs, so the limit is much higher. I never found it on their website either, but I called both the loan folks and the finaid office at my school, and they both confirmed you get more than the amount you've qyoted.

 

[NittanyKitty]

Also, I don't know your situation (if you've already applied or not), but there are several states that allow you to obtain in-state residency fairly easily, which can significantly reduce your tuition. My in-state was Penn, which is pretty pricey, so I applied to a few schools that would be cheaper overall after obtaining state residency. NC State, for instance, has an in-state rate of about $11,000 per year - I'm almost looking forward to next year's tuition bill!

 

[lei325]

40K in stafford loans? I just looked at their website and they said the MAXIMUM stafford loan for school is as follows

Dependent student1 Independent student2 1st-year undergraduate $5,500 (maximum $3,500 subsidized) $9,500 ($3,500)3 2nd-year undergraduate $6,500 ($4,500) $10,500 ($4,500) 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduate $7,500 ($5,500) $12,500 ($5,500) Graduate/professional NA (All graduate and professional students are considered independent.) $20,500 ($8,500)
So my 20,500 is the MAX loan I can get from Federal Aid Direct loans. Is there something I'm missing? Or another route I am supposed to look into?

Federal Aid Direct loans also includes GradPLUS loans, which you can take up to the maximum Cost of Attendance (includes living) for your particular school. That's how I'm paying for RVC right now; I took out $20,500 from Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans and took out the rest as a GradPLUS loan. The info for GradPLUS loans is also on the studentloans.gov website.