<p>Does 'full financial aid' always mean the student should contribute at least 3,000 USD (via an on-campus job) to their tuition? Even if their family doesn't have to contribute anything because their income is so low?</p>
<p>Every financial aid package has a “self-help” portion, which includes earnings from a summer time job and earnings from a term-time job (campus job). As the “self-help” portion needs to be earned over the course of a year, it is subtracted from a student’s overall “Total Budget.” Because the money is owed to the university up-front before a semester starts, some students who are on “full-ride” must take out a loan to pay for their “self-help” portion which does steadily increase from your freshman to senior years.</p>
<p><a href=“https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/assessing-need[/url]”>https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/assessing-need</a></p>
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<p>Is it possible to pay for undergrad and save for grad school at the same time?</p>
<p>Er, I should say: is it common?</p>
<p>it is possible, I don’t think it is common. You have to make enough to pay for undergrad with money left over that you save. If you aren’t making that amount, it isn’t possible. If you are, it is.</p>
<p>Very much. As far as I know, most of your earnings expectations go towards paying for the unbilled portions of the budget (travel expenses, books, personal expenses). NOT billed ones (tuition, room,board). So it’s up to you as to how much you want to work. Because your earnings expectation will rise each year, you will inevitably have to pay more upfront towards the billed expenses, but I think the majority would remain reserved for the unbilled.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the cost of grad schools? Are we talking Harvard-type grad schools, or state schools? </p>
<p>You seriously want to attend undergraduate school full-time, have a job 10-12 hours a week that covers your term-time job expectation, study, get good grades and then work another 20 hours per week to save for grad school? I don’t think it’s a realistic expectation, nor is it common.</p>
<p>Er, I should say: is it common?</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way . . . every dollar that you earn and save for grad school would have to be reported to Harvard (or any other school) as student assets the following year. And you would be expected to contribute some of those student assets the following year towards your undergraduate education See: <a href=“https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/assessing-need[/url]”>https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works/assessing-need</a></p>
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<p>In the case of someone who is on full financial aid and is working to make his student contribution requirement and his family cannot afford to help him out, it is not usual at all. There comes a point when savings and income will go towards your costs and you could get less aid as a result. </p>
<p>But, yes, it is possible that a student going to college can make enough money, that he can put some of it away.</p>
<p>^^ I don’t disagree that “a student going to college can make enough money that he can put some of it away.”</p>
<p>But, will that student be able to save enough money to pay for grad school? Maybe, if the grad school is a local or state school. But, for private grad schools, where tuition is approaching $60k per year, I highly doubt it would make a dent.</p>
<p>Again, it depends. I think it is rare a student can make enough and save enough for grad school while going to undergrad. But, yes, it is possible. Some grad schools don’t cost that much, particularly the state ones. And some students might be able to come up with a lot of money during undergrad years. But, it’s rare. Possible, yes. Happens often, no.</p>
<p>And also, not every version of “grad school” costs the same. Being in a PhD program is equivalent to having a low-paying job (and in some fields, maybe a little better than that). The students don’t actually pay any tuition. While it may be nice to have some extra money saved, it is usually possible to live (very, very frugally) on one’s stipend and program-related earnings (like from being a TA). When people talk about the need to save money for graduate school, they generally mean professional school – law, medicine, business.</p>