<p>My D has been accepted into several grad programs and is in the thick of the decision making that comes with that. Many of these programs have a very quick turn around time. She is accepted and has about a month to let them know if she will attend. In the meantime she waits to hear what the financial package looks like.
One of her top choices already had the deadline for decisions (they gave her a one week extension so that she could go to an accepted student day at another school) but they have not sent her a financial award letter! When she emailed them, she was told that it would come about a month and half before the semester starts (September).</p>
<p>Does that make any sense? How can a student make a decision about a very expensive program without knowing what her package looks like?! I am wondering if they are referring to the financial award itself? Not the award letter. So confusing. Does anyone have any insight?</p>
<p>Unless your daughter is looking to do a fully funded PhD program. There is very little need based aid out there. If she is doing a masters program, most of her aid will be in the form of loans. As an independent creditworthy grad student she can borrow her entire cost of attendance. What tule of grad program will she be starting?</p>
<p>It is a (second bachelors) BSN/MSN program leading toward licensure as a nurse practitioner. But do we assume that she will be given grad plus loans? Just not sure how she goes about this. One of the other schools she got into considers the first part of the program (BSN) to be undergrad because it is a bachelors. They required our financial info as well as hers and she got her package from them. Didn’t see anything about the grad plus loans because they don’t consider the first year to be grad school. Apparently we are expected to cover the delta. That ain’t happening after 7 years of undergrad expenses for my two kids. A huge portion of it was uncovered by loans.</p>
<p>The program that she waiting to get the award letter from considers the whole program to be a grad program.</p>
<p>If this is her second bachelors, I do NOT believe she is eligible for federally funded need based. the first part of her program is considered undergrad work, you would NOT see a “grad plus” loan. Those are only for GRAD students. You should have had an option for a Parent Plus. </p>
<p>The other thing you could do is cosign a private loan with your daughter for this first year. </p>
<p>Once she is a grad student, your information might not be required any longer (not that it matters since need based aid for grad study is not out there much). And when she is a grad student, you WILL see the option for a Grad Plus Loan, me thinks.</p>
<p>The program that she waiting to hear from defines the whole program as a grad program. They are very specicific
about that in the directions for filling out the FAFSA. Their website says that students in this program are eligible for grad plus loans. What I’m really wondering about is why there has been no letter yet? Nothing telling her what she is eligible for.</p>
<p>This isn’t all that unusual. Many of my aid packages came less than a week before the decision deadline (of those that came before I turned them down).</p>
<p>However, I did get scholarship offers well before the aid packages came out- usually within a week of the acceptance. </p>
<p>Most masters programs are funded by loans. That’s just the way it is. </p>
<p>At the BS level, the only federal loans she is eligible for will be subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans up to the annual limit for year in school (I am guessing $7500, with a maximum of $5500 sub, depending on need). I used to be the financial aid liaison for an accelerated nursing program, and the aid was extremely limited. Once your D is classified in the MS program, she will be eligible for unsubsidized loans and Grad PLUS loans up to COA.</p>
<p>I have never heard of any program that expects you to commit without having reviewed a financial package. I suppose that means it is a full pay cash or loan basis, however she should still see an offer.</p>
<p>Okay I think that I figured out why this particular school is considered entirely graduate as opposed to the others which are considered undergrad for the first portion. This program does not award the BSN until the end of the program. The BSN and the MSN are conferred at the same time so the two degrees are somewhat integrated. The website insists that she apply to FAFSA as a grad student. It says it repeatedly ( leading me to believe that they get this question a lot).<br>
So yes, i think it is just a case of a full pay program that expects you to take out loans. She has never done this so it is all new to her (lucky girl was parent funded for undergrad).
She has an appointment with them this week and will visit the financial aid office.</p>
<p>To those of you who are more financially savvy than I am, in general, is it better to go with the grad plus loans, etc as opposed to private loans that may have a better interest rate? One factor that she needs to consider is that she may be eligible for loan forgiveness at some point but I don’t think that can happen with private loans.</p>
<p>Grad PLUS is preferable to private loans for one simple reason: Much better repayment options. I work at a grad school and always counsel my students to borrow Grad PLUS over private loans. You can be on an income-driven repayment plan for all federal loans, and there is even forgiveness if the payments have to stretch out that long. My students who borrowed private loans for undergrad feel buried under those payments after graduation.</p>