<p>Paying</a> for Graduate School | US News & World Report</p>
<p>While looking at undergrad college expenses we are sometime warned about avoiding debt if grad school is in the plans, so I was interested when this article popped up today....wondering just what we need to be preparing for.</p>
<p>I really like the suggestion of just asking. My grad school decision came down to Columbia and U of Michigan. I wanted to go to Michigan but Columbia offered me a lot more money. I was very honest with Michigan about my situation and they ended up doubling my scholarship. </p>
<p>Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Thanks for the article :)</p>
<p>^^
Wow…congrats Romani! :)</p>
<p>Thanks! It was because of the wonderful parents here on CC that I even tried. I’ve convinced a few of my friends to try asking for more as well and many programs have been incredibly accommodating. </p>
<p>Another thing I learned: look for scholarships or assistantships while you’re applying. I didn’t look until after I was accepted and found that a lot of the deadlines had already passed :(. I just didn’t realize that there were a lot of those types of programs that required a separate app… I was dumb and thought that they would just be offered to you like in undergrad FA packages. They wanted you to indicate on your app that you had applied for them. Depending on your program and such, they might not even have a ton of applicants so your odds can be pretty good :)</p>
<p>I urge students to look into 5 year joint bachelors-masters programs to save money, as opposed to spending 2 full years in grad school. The cost savings can be enormous, particularly when you consider the opportunity cost of lost wages for a year.</p>
<p>If Pres. Obama’s plan would be approved for student loan interest rates, the rates for new graduate loans would decrease from their current rates, as long as inflation remains low. The rates would be market based, considering federal borrowing costs at the time the loan is taken out. The feds are currently borrowing the money for student loans at 2% and loaning it out to grad students at up to 7.9%.</p>
<p>Direct grad loans are 6.8%. Where’s the 7.9 coming from?</p>
<p>Grad PLUS interest rates are 7.9% (with a 4.2% origination fee!). </p>
<p>I would really like to see a better rate for grad loans. </p>
<p>I suspect there are grad schools “buying” students, and I know that money is coming from somewhere … I suspect it comes through increased tuition for undergrads (non-grant-funded-research disciplines). I am not sure that supporting grad programs through undergrad tuition dollars is a wise idea.</p>
<p>Yes, Grad Plus loans are taken out by the grad student, not the parent. They are intended to be used if needed after a student uses up their maximum allowed amount of unsubsidized staffords per year.</p>
<p>I apologize if this is an uninformed questions about grad school. Just got Daughter through freshman year so beginning to gather info. Daughter is engineering major and has 8 semesters scholarship for tuition. She’s a year ahead due to AP credits and really doesn’t want to graduate early- wants to take advantage of 3 co-op experiences at Northeastern and free tuition. She can take graduate courses but scholarship won’t be enough to cover the second year. We’re covering her room and board for UG so she’s not taking out loans. Due to retirement and other kids, we do not have saving for graduate school. We’re considering having her take out federal loans now so our money would be available to help with grad school. Does EFC factor in at all for graduate school? (If it matters, her GPA is 3.6 so I would assume that is strong but not outstanding to receive huge scholarships.) I wonder if she shouldn’t get a double major, take fun electives and wait until she’s been employed to pursue her masters. I appreciate any thoughts.</p>
<p>TCM, If your D is planning to go to graduate school for a PhD in engineering or a physical science, she should look for a program or school that will provide tuition remission and a stipend. She should not have to pay for grad school if pursuing a doctorate in the sciences. This may not be the case for a masters degree. Some companies will provide tuition reimbursement for employees to continue their education so she may want to find one of those companies to work for after undergraduate school.
On the other hand, financial aid is less common for graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities.</p>