I have earned both a BA and JD and am interested in taking some undergrad classes in an area that I have little education in at this point. The thing is, between the previous bachelor’s and doctoral program, even if I did declare a major, I am over the undergrad aggregate limit for Stafford Loans.
Is there anything available to me from federal finaid or would I have to pay everything out of pocket?
If you have used your aggregate limit, you can’t borrow more. Have you repaid anything?
Do you have no savings from your jobs?
And most notably, to get federally funded loans, you need to be enrolled in a degree seeking program. You can’t get these loans for a class here and there in a program for which you are not a matriculated student.
And last,y, you already have a bachelors degree. You can’t get more undergrad Direct Loans for a second bachelors degree either.
You actually could get Unsubsidized Direct loans for a 2nd bachelor’s degree, but that is the only federal funding available. However, you mentioned that you are at your aggregate limits - was that for a dependent undergrad, or did you borrow the full $57,500?
Yes @kgos16 but he would need to be a matriculated student in that bachelors program. You ant take direct loans unless you are a matriculated student in a degree seeking program.
True, @thumper1 - but you mentioned that a student can’t get Direct loans for a 2nd bachelor’s degree when they can providing they haven’t reached aggregate limits. I was trying to provide some clarification.
You are correct about the second bachelors.
@jdback - Yes, it is all but certain that you will have to pay for these classes yourself. So find out what is available for cheap at your local community college or through one of your home-state public Us. And remember that you can claim some of this as a lifetime learning credit or as a tuition and fees deduction on your federal taxes. That will take some of the pain out of it.
Since this student also has a LAW degree, I would imagine that when he says that he’s already borrowed the max, then maybe he has already borrowed the full amount…including grad amounts.
As long as the student has not exceeded the lifetime aggregate limit, it is possible to borrow more at the undergrad level. You can borrow a combination of subsidized and unsubsidized loans up to $138,500. This limetime aggregate limit does not include Grad PLUS. Most law students end up borrowing a lot, but the loans that count toward the aggregate limit are limited - much of the borrowing was probably Grad PLUS, which doesn’t factor in.
Add up the total of your outstanding undergrad loans (you can find them by logging into your account at www.nslds.ed.gov - you’ll want to first establish your FSA ID - new requirement - at https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm). If it’s less than $57,500, you can borrow whatever is left of the undergrad eligibility (with the caveat that your total sub and unsub loans cannot exceed $138,500). You have to be enrolled as a degree-seeking student & you are limited annually to the maximum allowed for your year in school (freshman=9500; sophomore-=11,500; junior/senior=12,500).
Don’t many professional students also use the unsubsidized Direct Loans?
Before this student borrows any more money, he needs to look at the whole picture. If he has undergrad debt and/or law school debt, he already has a very high amount of debt. Looking to see if there is more debt to be had is just being short-sighted…and delaying the mega-impact of paying back those loans later.