Will Stafford cover it all?

[CopToEM]

Tuition and fees+books for a three year program that I'm looking to enter is $33,500 per year. Will Fed loans cover that entire amount or will I almost certainly need private loans to supplement it?

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[CopToEM]

Oh, I did find this, but does it actually work this way in practice?

LIFETIME LIMITS
Subsidized / Unsubsidized
Graduate/Professional $65,5005 $224,0005

 

[charfdorn]

Tuition and fees+books for a three year program that I'm looking to enter is $33,500 per year. Will Fed loans cover that entire amount or will I almost certainly need private loans to supplement it?

I want to say the annual limit is $21K. You want to look into graduate PLUS loans, too. Right now the private loan rate is lower but it's tied to an index while the PLUS is fixed rate, so you're trying to guess what it'll be like four years from now... you're on your own for that one.

 

[CopToEM]

Anyone else know for sure? My University can't tell me squat about the limits on graduate loans for Pharmacy School.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

I think the amount of Federal loans you get depends on your previous year's income. If you were pretty poor, they'll give you more. My husband and I both had graduate stipends this year, so next year, because I'm married and my husband is no longer a student (plus our last year's income was decent), my school is just giving me enough Federal loans to cover tuition and textbooks.

If you work as a pharmacy intern, especially full time in the summer, that should help your income a lot.

 

[CopToEM]

If you work as a pharmacy intern, especially full time in the summer, that should help your income a lot.

It's a 3 year program so the only break we get is two weeks worth :x

 

[confettiflyer]

Stafford covered essentially all of my tuition/fees... I got something like $6k subsidized, $24k unsubsidized and my tuition is about $29k. I took out a little bit more on the grad plus side to cover living/moving expenses.

 

[CopToEM]

Stafford covered essentially all of my tuition/fees... I got something like $6k subsidized, $24k unsubsidized and my tuition is about $29k. I took out a little bit more on the grad plus side to cover living/moving expenses.

Yea, I just found this...

Loan limits
You may borrow up to the full cost of your education, less other aid received.

Graduate and professional students can apply for PLUS loans: PLUS no longer stands for "Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students."


That's pretty cool.

 

[CopToEM]

Now to rehab my credit... damn bad business debt

 

[confettiflyer]

Now to rehab my credit... damn bad business debt

the federal loans have pretty lenient standards...i think no bk within the past 2 years, foreclosure (i think), or student loans in default (OK if rehabbed).

 

[CopToEM]

the federal loans have pretty lenient standards...i think no bk within the past 2 years, foreclosure (i think), or student loans in default (OK if rehabbed).

I lost a business once the economy faltered and fell behind on my car payment, a business loan payment, and owed some money to utilities companies and wholesalers that went into collection. I've managed to get most of it taken care of and get caught up.

What kind of credit do I need?

A qualified Graduate PLUS Loan borrower does not have an adverse credit history (defined in regulations as being 90 days or more delinquent on any debt, or having a credit report that shows default, discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment or write-off of a Title IV debt during the five years preceding the date of the credit report). Note that Graduate and Professional Student PLUS loans do not use any kind of a debt-to-income ratio or FICO score, unlike private education loans.

That might hurt.

 

[CopToEM]

Confettiflyer,

default, discharge, foreclosure, repossession, tax lien, wage garnishment or write-off of a Title IV debt during the five years preceding the date of the credit report

What exactly is a Title IV debt? Student loan?

 

[confettiflyer]

Confettiflyer,



What exactly is a Title IV debt? Student loan?

Title IV Debt
Title IV Debt refers to debt that has been incurred under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Title IV Debt includes the following:
Federal Perkins Loan*
Federal Stafford Loan**
Federal Parent PLUS Loan
Federal Graduate PLUS Loan
Federal SLS Loan
Federal Consolidation Loan
The William D. Ford Federal Direct Stafford Loan
The William D. Ford Federal Direct PLUS Loan
The William D. Ford Federal Direct Consolidation Loan
*formerly the National Direct Student Loan and the National Defense Student Loan
**formerly the Guaranteed Student Loan

Yeah student loans... qualifications are for grad PLUS, I wonder what the qualifications are for the Stafford loan, I'm going to assume they're less stringent since that is what covers the bulk of tuition.

To cover day to day expenses, you might be able to find a co-signer for a private loan. Rates aren't so bad right now...but I guess it depends on each borrower.

 

[CopToEM]

Yeah student loans... qualifications are for grad PLUS, I wonder what the qualifications are for the Stafford loan, I'm going to assume they're less stringent since that is what covers the bulk of tuition.

To cover day to day expenses, you might be able to find a co-signer for a private loan. Rates aren't so bad right now...but I guess it depends on each borrower.

The Federal Stafford Loan is available to you if you are:

Borrower must be enrolled half-time or more as an undergraduate, graduate or professional student

A citizen of the United States of America or eligible resident

Have no unresolved defaults on federal student loans

Pretty much the same thing. I think between Stafford and Grad PLUS I should be able to have enough to attend and to survive. We shall see!

 

[sammy15]

I attend a 3 year program. My tuition is 39,000 (including all fees and $1500 for insurance) per year. My first year looked at my 2007 income which was ~$70,000 and my aid (stafford only) covered my whole tuition for the first year with about $100 left over. For this coming year my aid looked at my 2008 income of ~$50,000 (I worked until August prior to starting school) and it is short $1600 for fall and will be $286 short for spring and $286 short for summer (tuition went up of course). Financial aid told me I received the max award possible and that next year I will be equally short (and actually more short due to another raise in tuition) even though my 2009 income will be pretty much nothing. I decided to pull some money from my previous 457 account rather than take out other types of loans to make up the difference. So if you are only worried about covering tuition, you should be ok. If you need living costs it will def not be covered by stafford loans.

 

[DoctorRx1986]

Whether Stafford loans are sufficient to cover all of your educational and living expenses is dependent on your school's cost and their calculated budget. In my case, Stafford loans are enough to cover educational expenses only, leaving me with little disposable income I could use for miscellaneous expenses such as car oil changes, food, clothes, emergency money, etc... Therefore, I took out a Grad Plus Loan. My award amounts are as follows:

Fall 2009 and Spring 2010:

Subsidized Stafford Loan: $4,250
Unsubsidized: $12,250
Grad Plus: $4,640

The great thing about Grad Plus loans and anytime you get refund money is that you can also use that money for entertainment purposes once you have allotted enough money for other expenses. You can use some of it to go out to eat, shop, travel a bit, and even go to a strip club on occasion (lol, just jk about the latter). Sure, they tell you you can ONLY use the funds for educational expenses, but who's to say they even know you're using left over money for some fun? In the end, when you already own $120 k, 3 or 4 thousand extra is not much difference, so enjoy. Try not to limit yourself completely when making a loan and like they say, just "live a little". Work hard in school, but reserve aside a nice check for some entertainment while in school or you will go insane.

 

[PharmDstudent]

The great thing about Grad Plus loans and anytime you get refund money is that you can also use that money for entertainment purposes once you have allotted enough money for other expenses. You can use some of it to go out to eat, shop, travel a bit, and even go to a strip club on occasion (lol, just jk about the latter). Sure, they tell you you can ONLY use the funds for educational expenses, but who's to say they even know you're using left over money for some fun? In the end, when you already own $120 k, 3 or 4 thousand extra is not much difference, so enjoy. Try not to limit yourself completely when making a loan and like they say, just "live a little". Work hard in school, but reserve aside a nice check for some entertainment while in school or you will go insane.

They don't have any male strip clubs around here... my friends and I already checked.

 

[CopToEM]

Sure, they tell you you can ONLY use the funds for educational expenses

I think they realize people aren't doing it. I mean, after all, how else are people paying rent and utilities while attending pharmacy school? It has to be through loans - they know you're not working.

I've even seen 'entertainment expenses' listed as a reason to take out grad plus loans on a school website before.

 

[Farmercyst]

I think they realize people aren't doing it. I mean, after all, how else are people paying rent and utilities while attending pharmacy school? It has to be through loans - they know you're not working.

I've even seen 'entertainment expenses' listed as a reason to take out grad plus loans on a school website before.

Rent is included in "Cost of Attendance" figures they use to determine your max loan amount. You can use it to pay rent, I'm not sure about a mortgage though.

 

[DoctorRx1986]

I think they realize people aren't doing it. I mean, after all, how else are people paying rent and utilities while attending pharmacy school? It has to be through loans - they know you're not working.

I've even seen 'entertainment expenses' listed as a reason to take out grad plus loans on a school website before.

Where did you see that before?