My daughter is in a 3 + 2 program and in her third year of undergrad and will move on to school number 2 in the fall. She was told to fill out the FAFSA as a grad student for school number 2 and she received a EFC of “0”. She just recieved her financial aid package for school 2 and it does not include any Grants/Scholarships as she was told would be a possibility when researching the program. Her package includes the full COA, minus loans. Is no aid other than loans/work study usual for Grad School? We plan on reaching out to the Financial Aid office but wanted to find out what others have experienced. Thanks in advance for an insight or help.
Grad school funding is very different than undergrad funding. In many cases, full need is not met, and students do get loans, loans and more loans. The undergrad grants they were eligible for are not available to them as grad students.
I do suggest you reach out to the school.
Is there any chance your kid could switch to a regular bachelors, graduate, and then apply to masters programs?
1 Like
This is a direct admit program, so it does shave off one year of undergrad, so there is a savings there. It wouldn’t work financially to do another year of undergrad and then be
be faced with paying two more years for her Masters. I was just not aware that there would not be some form of aid other than loans.
One of my kids is finished with grad school and did not receive need based FA despite an EFC of 0. Her advisor told her that if she filled out the Fafsa she would be eligible for merit based scholarships. She filled it out and received money to cover room and board.
My other child is returning to grad school. So far all awards have been merit based (still waiting on some). She filled out the Fafsa - but has been working so her EFC is not 0. I am not sure what to expect when she fills out the Fafsa again and has a lower EFC. I am anticipating nothing or possibly a small need based grant (depending on the school) but who knows….
Is there a possibility that your daughter could be eligible for some type of merit award at the grad school? Some schools also offer tuition reductions for teaching. Maybe your D can call and inquire.
I don’t think your daughter IS an independent student for FAFSA purposes. She doesn’t have a BA/BS. Is she 24, married, or in the military (or post military), etc.? There are very specific requirements to be able to file as an independent student.
My nephew had the opposite experience with his school (same school for BS/MS in engineering). He completed all the requirements for the BS but wanted the MS. The school told him not to apply to graduate, and since he wasn’t awarded the BS he was still a dependent student (not good for need based aid for him) but he was still an undergrad so was eligible for undergrad tuition rate, student loan at undergrad rate, any undergrad merit awards, and the state tuition grant (only for undergrads). At any time he wanted his BS degree, like if he decided not to go for the MS, all he had to do was apply for it and it would have been issued.
My daughter is a grad student. She has the benefits of that (priority registration, TA position). She is now a resident of that state so qualifies for instate tuition (she has to pay for the summer courses) but can apply for grants and scholarships. If she got a student loan it would be at the grad student rates (boo!). Hoping our very good pal Dick Cheney comes through with another study abroad award!
Thank you for your reply and sharing your situation. We are going to reach out to the school, I am hoping there are some additional aid options.
1 Like
Actually, this student is now a graduate student. I believe this happens at a lot of programs like this (e.g. pharmacy) where once the student becomes a grad student, they are no longer eligible for the grants and aid they received as an undergrad.
That is the issue here….whether the student is independent…or not.
4 Likes
Every school has a policy for how they treat students in these cases, and you have to do what they tell you. If they say you have to file as a grad student, that’s what you have to do. Graduate aid very often is limited to loans, although some programs offer need based grants, merit scholarships and/or teaching assistantships. Those would all be institutional aid programs. When I worked at a public university, I didn’t see anything other than loans in my grad students’ aid offers for programs like social work, teaching and MBA. That varies by school, of course. The first place your D should check is with her department. I am sure they get asked this question a lot.
2 Likes
But how can the “2” school in a 3+2 program just tell the student to fill out the FAFSA as a grad student when the student doesn’t have an undergrad degree? Could a school do that for an 18 year old freshman who is in a 6 year program?
This student doesn’t meet the definition of an independent as she has no undergrad degree. When we looked at 3+2 programs, we were told my D would receive a degree from the first school AFTER she completed the program at the ‘2’ school. Until then she had no college degree at all. If she never completed the ‘2’ program, she’d not get a degree from the first school.
An 18 year old freshman would not have completed the 3 years of undergrad study that leads to the 2 to complete the program.
As @kelsmom said…schools treat this differently. This is how your daughter’s school did this. It’s not universally true.
1 Like
In this program, my daughter is considered a Grad student as she enters school # 2. She will be taking the same courses as other students who completed 4 years of undergrad and is entering as a Grad student. The courses she takes in year 4 will be transferred back to school #1 and in year 4 will walk with school #1 for her BS degree.
If my daughter would have done the 3+2, she would have been a 19 year old junior, still at the ‘3’ school on October 1 (when filling out the FAFSA for her senior year/first year at the ‘2’ school). I don’t see how the new school could direct her to fill out the FAFSA as an independent when she wouldn’t have qualified as an independent (no undergrad degree. not 24, not married)
The program she looked at had three different schools they had agreements with to be the second school. She wouldn’t even know which one she would be accepted to at that point. What if they all treated it differently? Filing multiple FAFSAs isn’t allowed.
Another reason I didn’t like the 3+2 plan.
One of the factors for being considered independent is enrollment in a graduate degree program.
4 Likes
our d16 looked at a few 3-2 plans. they told us the last 2 years would be graduate level tuition.
she went a more traditional 4-2 plan. But i’ve always wondered: if she was only in undergrad 3 years; and then independent, on her on in years 4 & 5 - if she could have used the life long learning credits; or received pell grants for year 4 as she was independent.
her grad school now gives her a 15% grant/scholarship. No idea if it is need based or merit based. It’s a pricey school so that $ is helpful. the rest is loans/family.
Pell Grants only are for undergrads. And imo I think they are all pricey!
1 Like
yeah, she didnt receive pell with undergrad; we certainly looked into that once she was declared independent and in grad school and making no money — but no pell for grad school. i do know theres a great PEO loan situation available to some . . . perhaps look into that?
What is a PEO Loan?