<p>So if a student begins a Pharm.D. program this fall after completing sophomore year of college, she/he has to answer 'yes' to beginning a doctorate program for FAFSA? So no more Pell Grant, other 'undergrad' types of federal aid?</p>
<p>You are correct, s/he would no longer be eligible for a Pell Grant.</p>
<p>Correct. Your student will be working on a graduate degree and the Pell is for undergrads only.</p>
<p>I thought maybe there was a distinction since it is not a graduate degree (an undergraduate degree is not required), it is a professional degree.</p>
<p>Same thing. Professional degrees such as PharmD are not undergraduate degrees . If she is starting the pharmacy part, she is not eligible for Pell.</p>
<p>It actually depends on the program. Different pharmD programs define the professional phase differently. At some, the Pell is lost in the first year of the professional phase - but at others, it is retained until a certai number of credits - at least through P1. It has to do with credits and definition of where the grad phase begins in a 6 year program. You need to ask the school.</p>
<p>Absolutely ask the school financial aid program. I know a college 2/5 program that keeps the student as an undergrad until he is awarded the BA/BS degree which in that case is the end of year three of that program. The financial aid as an ug is good until that degree is granted even though in that third year the student is taking pretty much all grad/med school level courses in that specific program. The financial aid office will know how this is handled.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, when is the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year?</p>
<p>If enrolled as an undergraduate (summer study abroad) until early August, and professional school begins late August, how is the question answered considering the FAFSA ‘year’ begins July 1?</p>
<p>Or a more clear cut example, say a student completes his undergraduate degree in December and begins graduate school in January - how is federal aid for a hybrid year addressed within FAFSA?</p>
<p>You have to work closely with the school’s financial aid office. I used to be in charge of moving students from undergrad to grad in the pharmacy program and for those who moved from undergrad to a grad program midyear. Due to the constraints of our computer program, I had to know upfront that the student would be changing … otherwise, aid backed off and there were big problems. I had to know before the student changed the FAFSA to grad so that I could lock aid in our system. You may not have an issue, though - the vast majority of schools consider summer as the end of an award year. You have to ask the school, though … YOURS might consider summer the first term of the new award year.</p>
<p>This school considers summer to be the first term of the new award period. In general, will financial aid offices meet with parents, or only with the student or if the student is present?</p>
<p>Aid officers will meet with the parent, but the student should be present. Otherwise, unless a FERPA release is on file, most aid offices will not discuss the student’s file with the parent. When I worked in an undergrad school, our policy was that we could talk about the student’s file with a parent if the student was there … or we could talk in general terms only if the student was not there. Some schools will talk with the parent without the student, due to varying interpretations of the FERPA law.</p>