Second bachelor's and financial aid

[lolington]

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I'm interested in a post-bacc program, but I'm also planning on completing a second bachelor's during the glide year.

What kind of federal aid am I eligible for? Will the aid be enough to support my studies full-time, even for at least two years? Is the amount awarded affected by my income this year? If it is, does it matter that this income is earned after more than a year of being unemployed, and most of which is used to pay off debts?

I'm still researching this question, but if I get answers sooner, the better. If I can supply more information to better answer my questions, let me know.

Thanks.

 

[TMP-SMX]

You should be eligible for staffords. How much your are eligible depends on your program. Are you independent on the FAFSA? Being born before January 1988, grad student, veteran or current active duty, or married would make you independent. If independent, the stafford limit is 12,500. If dependent, it would be 8,500. Though depending on your lifetime limit of how much you have taken in undergrad you might hit the limit if you had a lot of expenses. The amount isn't affected by income but the subsidized amounts will be reduced. It doesn't matter that you were unemployed in 2009. All that matters is what happened in 2010. Income matters and so do your assets. So the more assets you spend on debt the better for you.

 

[lolington]

So the more assets you spend on debt the better for you.

Good to hear that prioritizing debt repayment has a direct benefit to this endeavor!

I'm an independent and owe $20,000 in student loans, though I'm not sure how much of that amount is from Stafford loans. The lifetime total for independent students is $57,500 -- for loans disbursed after July 2008. Given that my loans were disbursed back in 2004-2006, I'm not sure where that puts me, though I suspect somewhere at least in the same ballpark.

If federal financial aid doesn't cover it, I have to always remind myself that I can take out private loans (for the post-bacc).

 

[TMP-SMX]

As far as I know, the note about the 2008 just means that anyone trying to take a loan after that time period are subject to those limits. Any loans prior to that period are part of the calculation. I may be wrong, but this is correct as far as I know.