This blog is intended to serve as a resource for Higher Education Masters candidates admitted to Iowa State University. Certain "hot topics" have been listed, and more can be added.
If you have a question, especially one that others may have, please post it as a comment in the right category. All candidates have been invited to this blog. There are also a few current first-year students who are members and who may have insight they can offer.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Financial Aid Questions
If you have questions about financial aid, including how loans and "tuition waivers" work, please post them here.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
At what point will I know my financial burden for grad school?
Good question. Here's the link for the estimate from the financial aid office: http://www.financialaid.iastate.edu/CostAttendance/graduate.htm.
Your assistantship at ISU qualifies you for in-state tuition and pays for half of that amount. My per-semester bill (including tuition AND fees) was $3391, $1484 of which was covered by my 1/2 tuition scholarship.
Chances are that you will be offered student loans in an amount that will meet the full cost of attendance as calculated on the Financial Aid website. I can't speak for anyone else on this one, but that amount was way too much-a lot more than I needed. I took almost every bit of loan money I could during the fall semester and almost none in the Spring because I didn't need it.
I do have a relatively inexpensive apartment, though, so that impacts what I actually need. Additionally, the stipend for the average assistantship on campus (may be different for Department of Residence since living costs are included) is about $1250/month before taxes. This takes care of a lot of your expenses.
I actually didn't take out enough financial aid for the fall semester. Some other students in the cohort didn't take any loans and did struggle a little. I do have a different financial situation than others might have (I drive to Des Moines at least 2 days per week and had some previous debt when I moved to Ames). Use your judgement because not everyone has a similar situation.
The new cost of attendance calculation for 2007-2008 will be posted around Spring Break time in mid-March. You will be offered Subsidized Stafford loans, Unsibsidized Stafford loans, and alternative loan eligibility as a graduate students. Sorry, your federal and state grant eligiblity is nil as a grad student (Pell, ISU rant, FSEOG, etc.)
Stafford loans are those through the federal government. Your lender is Direct Loans and your eligibility for those is determined based on FAFSA information so GET ONE FILED! Subsidized loans are not accruing interest while you are in school while unsibsidized are. The best loans to take are your subsidized so max those out first.
If you find yourself needing to take all loan eligibility up to cost, the remaining after Stafford loans will have to be applied for through an outside lender. These loans are always accruing interest and, often, at a much higher interest rate.
For almost all graduate students, you can expect an award to look like this: Subsidized Stafford eligibility: $8500/year Unsubsidized Stafford eligibility $10000/year Additional Loan eligibility: up to cost "Cost of Attendance" includes everything from tuition, books, and fees to personal expenses and transportation estimates. While we don't want you drowing in debt, we don't want you going hungry either!
4 comments:
At what point will I know my financial burden for grad school?
Good question. Here's the link for the estimate from the financial aid office: http://www.financialaid.iastate.edu/CostAttendance/graduate.htm.
Your assistantship at ISU qualifies you for in-state tuition and pays for half of that amount. My per-semester bill (including tuition AND fees) was $3391, $1484 of which was covered by my 1/2 tuition scholarship.
Chances are that you will be offered student loans in an amount that will meet the full cost of attendance as calculated on the Financial Aid website. I can't speak for anyone else on this one, but that amount was way too much-a lot more than I needed. I took almost every bit of loan money I could during the fall semester and almost none in the Spring because I didn't need it.
I do have a relatively inexpensive apartment, though, so that impacts what I actually need. Additionally, the stipend for the average assistantship on campus (may be different for Department of Residence since living costs are included) is about $1250/month before taxes. This takes care of a lot of your expenses.
Others may have more to say on this one.
I actually didn't take out enough financial aid for the fall semester. Some other students in the cohort didn't take any loans and did struggle a little. I do have a different financial situation than others might have (I drive to Des Moines at least 2 days per week and had some previous debt when I moved to Ames). Use your judgement because not everyone has a similar situation.
The new cost of attendance calculation for 2007-2008 will be posted around Spring Break time in mid-March. You will be offered Subsidized Stafford loans, Unsibsidized Stafford loans, and alternative loan eligibility as a graduate students. Sorry, your federal and state grant eligiblity is nil as a grad student (Pell, ISU rant, FSEOG, etc.)
Stafford loans are those through the federal government. Your lender is Direct Loans and your eligibility for those is determined based on FAFSA information so GET ONE FILED! Subsidized loans are not accruing interest while you are in school while unsibsidized are. The best loans to take are your subsidized so max those out first.
If you find yourself needing to take all loan eligibility up to cost, the remaining after Stafford loans will have to be applied for through an outside lender. These loans are always accruing interest and, often, at a much higher interest rate.
For almost all graduate students, you can expect an award to look like this:
Subsidized Stafford eligibility: $8500/year
Unsubsidized Stafford eligibility $10000/year
Additional Loan eligibility: up to cost
"Cost of Attendance" includes everything from tuition, books, and fees to personal expenses and transportation estimates. While we don't want you drowing in debt, we don't want you going hungry either!
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