<p>Next year, one of my kids will be a college senior and hopefully, one will be starting a three-year graduate school program. Would I apply for financial aid just at my undergrad's college? I don't think that my older kid can independentally pay much toward grad. school.</p>
<p>"Graduate and professional students are automatically independent. The question then arises whether they can be included in household size and the number in college for a sibling’s FAFSA. The answer is that they can, if they will receive more than half their support from the sibling’s parents during the award year. They do not need to be living at home. It is inappropriate to exclude graduate students simply because they are independent. This situation is quite common among law students, where the parents are paying for law school. " From the FAFSA site.</p>
<p>However, in terms of getting financial aid for a grad student, there is not much out there other than loans, and if you are down there as a financial resource, the student is not likely to get anything at all. That your older kid cannot pay much towards grad school might possibly make him eligible for anything there. Usually it’s loans. Some programs have stipends and fellowships, but those are usually not financial aid awards. </p>
<p>So your grad student would apply himself for aid as an independent and be qualified to borrow as an independent student for grad school. </p>
<p>Kelsmom is now working with grad student so she would have a wealth of materials to share with you.</p>
<p>Thanks cpt; very succinct and incredibly helpful!</p>
<p>What kind of grad student? MD? JD? Masters? MBA? PhD? A master’s or PhD may be funded by their department via teaching assistant or research assistant positions as well as tuition remission. Additionally your grad student may get some level of free room & board by serving as a resident assistant.</p>
<p>Be sure the grad student fills out their independent FAFSA early (January) just like the undergrad student. I had my DD do that and she got a very large work study amount which could be used when working in her PIs lab, it was excellent. Her department had never seen that before because no grad student had bothered to do an early FAFSA before.</p>
<p>If you are getting good aid at kid #2’s school be sure to ask if kid #1 in grad school will still count in the number of kids in college for the financial aid at that school. Some schools allow it, some do not. You need to know for planning purposes.</p>
<p>Just be aware that NOT all grad school programs award work study.</p>
<p>When it is possible to get a fellowship or assistanceship - or work as an RA in the dorm - that is a great way to defray the cost of grad school. That is not always possible, though, especially with certain programs. While it makes sense to follow the money for undergrad, it may not always make sense to choose a grad school based on aid. Some schools do offer grad scholarships, so look for those.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, plain old need-based aid can be hard to come by in grad school. Work study is sometimes awarded in grad school. Loans are what pays the way for most grad students, though. Ideally, a student would work for a couple years & save money to help pay for school. It isn’t going to hurt chances for aid, and it can help keep borrowing down. In addition, grad students can live off-campus to defray living costs. </p>
<p>Subsidized loans are no longer available for grad students. Unsub is available, up to $20,500 per year - med school & law school have their own maximums (and there may be special loans available for health care students). If more money is needed, PLUS loans are an option many students use to meet the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>^I’m an RD and I get free housing plus a $5,000 stipend. At some universities, you can get free housing (including for your partner/spouse if you have one) and a tuition discount - it depends. Definitely look into it! A lot of my fellow RDs were not RAs in college so don’t let that discourage your S or D.</p>
<p>As for financial aid, it would be your kid’s responsibility to apply for financial aid at his or her university, as he or she is an independent student now. He or she can borrow up to $20,500 of unsubsidized Direct loans and can borrow the balance in Graduate PLUS loans.</p>
<p>My kid is applying to M. Arch programs (Master of Architecture) which would be either 3 yrs or 3 1/2 years long. I seriously doubt if these programs have fellowships/RA jobs etc. Definitely would be living off campus.</p>
<p>When my D was looking at grad schools, she found this site helpful, as well as the websites of the schools she was considering.</p>
<p>thegradcafe.com</p>
<p>Wow, I don’t know why I thought this would be straightforward. It really sounds like a lot of cobbling stuff together; well, I did just refinance our mortgage; so continuing onward to more paperwork & sorting through tax forms.</p>
<p>* I don’t know why I thought this would be straightforward. It really sounds like a lot of cobbling stuff together*</p>
<p>I think for professional schools (law, med, arch, b-schools) it can be more difficult since typically the only “aid” is loans…and sometimes not enough loans.</p>
<p>It can be easier if the student is applying to PhD programs that are fully-funded. The school then covers just about all costs.</p>