Doesn't matter what school you attend or what program you're in, if you're borrowing Stafford government loans, the school will "secretly" charge you a fee called the "STAFFORD LOAN FEES"
This fee is calculated into your Cost of Attendance (COA), so you don't even see it. For example, at Nova Dental, my COA is ~$54,000 with everything included, but there is a ~$1,200 Stafford loan fee that I'm borrowing for Nova to process and disperse Stafford loans. This is BULLS@IT!
I borrowed $1,200 to pay my school to process my stafford loans? By the time I graduate and start to pay back that $1,200, the balance will be like $3,000 for that $1,200!
I didn't know this last year until an upperclassmen had informed me about it. I then asked a medical student, the she also told me the same thing on the medical side and how that a lot of her classmates got out of paying this fee by SWITCHING to a different stafford loan lenders.
That is exactly what I did as soon as I found this out! I switched from Nova prefered Stafford lender to Dental Access Stafford lender. Another stafford lender without fees is NOWLOAN, their website is:
http://www.nowloans.org/dental_loans.htm
To switch a stafford loan lender, you must complete a "CHANGE OF LENDER FORM" at your financial aid office. Once this form is completed, then your stafford loans will be processed and dispersed without a fee! You'll save yourself that $1,200 a year plus interests accrued during your 4 years.
Since your schools have budgeted this fee as part of your COA, once you switched your stafford loan lender, what ever that fee amount is budgeted will be taken out of your COA (you'll borrow that specific amount less).
If my COA is $54,000 for the year initially with Nova's preferred Stafford loan lender fee of $1,200 included and then once I switched to my own preferred Stafford loan lender, I will subtract that fee amount from my COA. My new total COA will be $1,200 less at $52,800 (I borrow that much less).
Got it? Go ask your financial aid offices about how much your Stafford loan fees are? If you're paying $1, then you're paying $1 too much for the Stafford loan fee!
Oh well, that's their job. 
