<p>Son has been accepted to three masters programs. No financial aid/merit award came with his acceptances. He's filled out the FAFSA and has been deemed independent. Because he had a scholarship and a part time job in undergrad, he filed income taxes and the FAFSA listed his income as much higher than what he earned on the job, so I guess they count his scholarship as income. Anyway, he's got to decide on grad school without knowledge of if he'll get any aid once he's been accepted. Some of the schools have said they'll give awards in July, well past the acceptance deadline. We're looking at probably taking out loans to cover any costs not covered by FA. He'll probably pass on the prestigious acceptance because even with some aid, it will cause him to go into a lot of debt, with no guarantee of even working in a lab he'd be interested in. Just too much of a crap shoot to invest that much money into. His other choices, he's guaranteed positions in labs he wants to work in, either on a voluntary basis or an hourly wage, definitely not enough to pay tuition and living expenses, but he'll be studying what he wants to study and working toward his goal of a masters before moving into industry. My question is, is financial aid available for grad students? I always thought it was only available for undergrad, and only the independently wealthy, or extremely smart, could afford to go to grad school. His acceptance letters were clear that masters students do not get funding, like PhD students do, but wondering if there's a possibility of merit scholarships or even need based aid. Thanks for any help. Neither of us parents went to grad school, so we have no idea how this works.</p>
<p>If his scholarship was counted as income on FAFSA, he completed FAFSA wrong. The taxable scholarship is included in the AGI, but there is another question that asks how much of the AGI is from scholarships. If that question is answered correctly, the scholarship income is deducted from the AGI before the EFC is calculated.</p>
<p>That said, there is not generally much need based aid for grad school. Any there is would come from the school - no Federal grants like Pell for grad students. Some programs offer GA or TA stipends depending on the program. My son in law got a pretty good stipend as a GA and a partial tuition waiver.</p>
<p>Your son is now considered an independent student for financial aid purposes. Most grad students coming straight from under grad have either a 0 or really low EFC because they have not worked.</p>
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We’re looking at probably taking out loans to cover any costs not covered by FA.
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<p>We don’t have to take out loans. your son is eligible to take out 20k as a direct loan. if he is credit worthy hecan borrow the total cost of attendance - any financial aid as a GradPlus loan.</p>
<p>Some universities give money/ta/ra/ga to Master’s and some don’t. It is really annoying that they don’t give awards before decision. If he is going to a large public he may get a TA position easily. At Wisconsin, almost all students are funded in the CS dept at least, even Masters as they don’t distinguish between MS and PhD when admitting. That’s a bit different. Many students competitive for PhD programs do apply for the PhD because of funding then depart with the free masters if they don’t want to go on. Not sure the exact ethics of doing that intentionally but people do leave programs with MS only for various reasons, not clicking with an advisor, losing interest, changing interest etc.</p>
<p>If he has to self fund, he can take the grad student loan. He can get a paid p/t job. He can try to do something to set up a tuition waiver for the 2nd year. Ask around to see how. Many schools have ways to contact current grad students so maybe that’s something to feel people out about before he makes his decision.</p>
<p>He needs to correct his fafsa to record scholarships correctly.</p>
<p>He needs to assume that he’ll be borrowing all thru Direct Loans and Grad Plus Loans, and if he is lucky to not need as much then adjust the borrowing…which can be done in July.</p>
<p>Thanks, all. Is there a phone number I can call to help with adjusting his FAFSA? Thanks</p>
<p>your son shouldnt have to call anyone, he just needs to put the scholarship amount in the question that asks about scholarships…and then the formula should subtract it.</p>
<p>look to see if that was already done and if the AGI was reduced. </p>
<p>what was the resulting efc?</p>
<p>I have no idea what an AGI is. I’ve got his tax returns and will go into FAFSA to make corrections. I’ll have him do this with me. What are AGI and EFC? I know there was a question that asked if he wanted to provide his assets and he answered no. I’m assuming that means he doesn’t want to disclose savings account/checking account info, which is the only assets a 22 year old would have at this point. He doesn’t own a house or a car. If EFC is estimated financial contribution, since he doesn’t have a job now that he’s graduated, I would assume that would be 0. So, if you’re looking at 28K/year tuition, plus 12K/year for living expenses, I’m hoping he’ll be able to take out 40K/year in loans if that’s all that will be provided in the form of FA.</p>
<p>Adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>Expected Family Contribution (this is his contribution).</p>
<p>He is 22 and they are considering him independent? Based on what criteria?</p>
<p>Having a bachelor’s and starting a master’s program makes him independent.</p>
<p>Ah…didn’t know that!</p>
<p>^^^Yes, I was excited to see that. I know I had to live on my own for three years to be considered independent when applying for government FA when I was in college. Finally got a Pell grant after three years of working three years to pay the balance of my tuition after my merit scholarship.</p>
<p>I was able to go in and enter what amount of his income was from his lab job and how much was his scholarship money. It gives him an EFC of 000.</p>
<p>Though he’ll definitely do loans, I was hoping he would qualify for work study, as that would open up a lot of doors for campus jobs in grad school. When I saw the AIG transferred from the IRS, which is what I used, I thought for sure it would disqualify him for that.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping this will get him some aid once the awards are handed out in July.</p>
<p>In the meantime, looks like he’d better get a part-time job this summer to pay that first month’s rent on his grad school apartment! And also looks like he needs to wait for his honeymoon to do any adult traveling!</p>
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<p>He has to disclose his assets just like everyone else. He is not eligible for an automatic 0 EFC as an independent student who does not have any dependents</p>
<p>He doesn’t have much of a savings account. Didn’t mean to mislead. The form specifically asked the question if he wanted to give assets, and even if he wanted to give parent info. I suppose if they need it, they’ll ask for it. No problem disclosing the meager amount. Just was surprised that they gave him the option.</p>
<p>you need to go back and check the form. You did put down that he is pursuing a masters degree? I am surprised that it asked you still for the parent info. He should still gives his asset, even if it is a meager amount. He will give it now or give it later as with a 000 efc, it is going to prompt a low income verification and he will still have to submit the information</p>
<p>I am surprised that an option for parent info was given - all grad students are automatically independent. Assets don’t need to be provided, I wouldn’t think … sounds like the student answered that assets were below the minimum required to be reported, so they aren’t needed. Some states want the info for their grant programs (doubt this would be the case for a grad student).</p>
<p>Federal aid at the grad level is mainly unsub and Grad PLUS loans, neither of which are impacted by the EFC. Schools that have their own funds to award as grants may be more likely to want additional info — for example, many med and law schools request parent info & may want asset info even below the minimum. Usually, though, applying for aid at the grad level is less painful than at the undergrad level … because there is no Pell or SEOG.</p>
<p>No, parent info was not given. Sorry if I mistyped. I was surprised that it asked, do you want to provide asset info, yes or no. He answered no. If he has to give it later to get aid, no problem. I think they did ask for parent info if you were doing med or law school, which he is not, so he didn’t have to provide it. We would just use the IRS link to provide our info for the FAFSA during his undergrad years. Since he will attend an OOS large state flagship, he’s hopeful to pick up a lab or teaching job to put food on the table and do loans for the tuition. He’s planning on becoming a resident of that state ASAP, since he intends to settle there. </p>