<p>Are grad students supposed to fill out a FAFSA for grad school if we are receiving a stipend? (I'm a US citizen going into the biomedical sciences).</p>
<p>I filled out a FAFSA during my masters because I was taking out student (Stafford) loans as the stipend was by no means livable. I did not fill a FAFSA for my PhD. I think the stipend there is too high to be considered for Stafford loans. Of course, the final answer is best coming from your school, but in my experience if you plan to live off the stipend, then no, you do not need a FAFSA.</p>
<p>I filled out my applications and have not received any acceptances/rejects yet. Was I supposed to fill out the FAFSA before the application deadline? Is the FAFSA relevant to the admission decisions? How else would we know about funding?</p>
<p>No, FAFSA has no relevance to admission decisions in grad school in my experience. It is only used if you need additional loans. Even if you need a FAFSA, you don't have to worry about the deadline for quite some time. For the school year of July 1st 2009-June 30th 2010 the deadline is June 30 2010, though schools and states may have their own deadlines that are sooner.</p>
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Of course, the final answer is best coming from your school, but in my experience if you plan to live off the stipend, then no, you do not need a FAFSA.
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Agreed -- I've never filled out FAFSA in graduate school, because I'm not taking any loans.</p>
<p>Stipends aren't scholarships in the sense that undergraduate aid is, they're fellowships. Most biomedical sciences programs fund their students through NIH training grants, so there's no requirement to demonstrate financial need to get funding.</p>
<p>Actually I got an e-mail the other day from one of the programs I applied to saying that I am under serious consideration of admittance with financial support and that I would have to fill out a FAFSA to be eligible for a certain federal fellowship they have. So it looks like it may sometimes be necessary but I'm guessing they will tell you.</p>
<p>Yes, I might have gotten the same email, I PMed you crispyk. It was mostly about the GAANN fellowship.</p>
<p>Don't forget the option of selling your soul to the Department of Homeland Security ;). I'm not going to hear much besides that e-mail for a while, so I've been trying to read into it way too much.</p>
<p>I was instructed to fill out a FAFSA for one of my schools, so I just listed all of them to receive the SAR. But I'm applying to professional school, where they assume everyone will be taking out loans; I don't see why they would need it for PhD students on fellowships.</p>
<p>There are a lot of fellowships that are endowed with the stipulation that they can only go to somebody with demonstrable financial need.</p>
<p>You should fill it out, just to see,you may get a work study that could pay for your researchship and help that prof's funding base</p>
<p>Work study? Does that even exist after undergrad?</p>
<p>Don't all grad students demonstrate financial need? </p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, but I think I'm still as confused as before. haha</p>
<p>Well, I think the best answer is that you shouldn't fill it out unless you're specifically asked to do so by your department.</p>
<p>In my department, all first- and second-year graduate students are funded by NIH training grants (which are not based on need), and third-year students and above are funded by their advisor's research grants or else their own fellowships (NSF, NIH NRSA, disease association-based), which are merit-based rather than need-based.</p>
<p>Yes, work-study exists for graduate students, and the rates are usually higher, too.</p>
<p>Personally, I would say complete the FAFSA regardless of whether they THINK they're going to take out student loans or get other kinds of aid. You never know what sources of funding you find later in the year that may require the FAFSA; it doesn't take that long (it should take you 30 minutes at most if you have all the paperwork you need in front of you); and it's not going to affect your eligibility for regular fellowships anyway (most are awarded on merit).</p>
<p>I'm in a Ph.D program and I ended up taking out a graduate Stafford loan because I didn't have the upfront monies to secure an apartment, and also because I needed a computer. If you ever need to take out a loan during the school year -- you never know what might come up -- the FAFSA is already filled out and you don't have to add any extra processing time.</p>
<p>My DD was admitted to a masters program that is not fully funded. We completed the FAFSA the prior January as we have for many years and DD received an excellent work study which she could use in the research lab with her prof. He had not seen this happen before, so I say file it early just in case.</p>