stafford loan lifetime caps?

[mouseybrown]

hey,

i can't seem to find a thread on this.

I'm going to call the powers at be tomorrow but i was wondering if anyone knows if your undergrad debt is calculated with your grad debt? (financial aid, going into your third year...)

i.e=the most you can get from stafford , sub or unsub is 138,000. i'm assuming that includes undergrad. but the lifetime limit for med/health professions is 225,000 or so? is that correct? does that include undergrad?

thanks

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[pem8erly]

yes, the stafford cap is increased for medical school and it does include undergrad

 

[illegallysmooth]

This doesn't include Grad Plus loans, right?

 

[pem8erly]

I think Grad Plus loans are the government's equivalent of private loans. So no, I dont think they count in the cap.

 

[Phlame217]

Stafford is stafford and yes the cap is increased for medical school, however any undergrad loans will still count.

Grad plus has no caps, however your financial adviser from the school must individually analyze your situation as grad plus is capped at the difference between cost of living and Stafford. There for if cost of living set forth by the school = Stafford cap, then to get grad plus the financial adviser must sign off on increasing your cost of living so you qualify for grad plus.

 

[CATrtb]

How often does this happen? Do you mean your financial aid office can increase your COA cap? I need about $15,000 a year above the COA for my family. How do you go about doing this?

 

[illegallysmooth]

Stafford is stafford and yes the cap is increased for medical school, however any undergrad loans will still count.

Grad plus has no caps, however your financial adviser from the school must individually analyze your situation as grad plus is capped at the difference between cost of living and Stafford. There for if cost of living set forth by the school = Stafford cap, then to get grad plus the financial adviser must sign off on increasing your cost of living so you qualify for grad plus.

Thanks for your input. However, I want to mention that at many schools the Stafford loans are not capped according to COL, because COL far outweighs the yearly amount limit.

 

[TMP-SMX]

How often does this happen? Do you mean your financial aid office can increase your COA cap? I need about $15,000 a year above the COA for my family. How do you go about doing this?

You need to talk to your financial aid office whether the expenses are for childcare or whatever. There are only some exceptions to the limit on the CoA.

 

[CATrtb]

I talked to a few different people at my financial aid office. There is no exceptions to the COA. According to them "the federal government limtis the amount of money loaned to a student for living to that of a single person." The say they absolutley cannot go over. There are also no private loans out there.

But they did say that undergrad loans will not affect your ability to pull out the max COA every year.

 

[AD28]

I talked to a few different people at my financial aid office. There is no exceptions to the COA. According to them "the federal government limtis the amount of money loaned to a student for living to that of a single person." The say they absolutley cannot go over. There are also no private loans out there.

But they did say that undergrad loans will not affect your ability to pull out the max COA every year.

there are definitely private loans out there. just not federally backed private loans.

 

[CATrtb]

there are definitely private loans out there. just not federally backed private loans.

I mean loans that do not have to be certified by your school. I can't find any.