<p>My 22 yr old is applying to law schools. I looked at the tuition cost yesterday and was shocked at how many of them charge tuition in the mid 30s and higher...plus living expenses of course. How can students borrow so much?</p>
<p>Can someone give me an elementary primer education on financial aid for grad students? Do I still have to do a FAFSA for the law schools, even though he's 22?</p>
<p>I'm not an expert but I can answer a few of your questions... (have a D applying to med school, not law school, but the financing is similar. In other words--really, really expensive!)</p>
<p>Once a student has complete his bachelor's degree, the student is considered independent for FAFSA purposes in grad/professional school. He will fill out the FAFSA using his income and assets--not yours.</p>
<p>Federal loans (Stafford--both subsidized and unsubsidized) and limited federal work-study are available for graduate study. A student can borrow up to $138,500 (with no more than $64,000 of that being in subsidized loans) over 4-5 years. There are yearly borrowing limits.</p>
<p>However, many schools (esp private universities) will still ask for parental income and assets in addition to FAFSA and may use that information to compute aid offers. </p>
<p>Some schools offer institutional aid in addition to federal loans, but the amount and type vary widely.</p>
<p>D is resigned to getting out of professional school deeply in debt....</p>
<p>The Grad PLUS loan lets a student borrow up to the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Here is some good info regarding grad/professional aid:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/pubs/gradbasics.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/pubs/gradbasics.pdf</a>. This is for schools using direct lending, but it's the same if your school uses FFEL (that is, if you borrow a Stafford or PLUS through a bank, rather than directly through the government via your school).</p>
<p><a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/funding/PlusLoansQA.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/funding/PlusLoansQA.pdf</a> (2 pages!). This info explains the grad PLUS loan well.</p>
<p>As noted above, some schools offer work study for grad/professional students. There are no Pell grants or FSEOG for grads. Some schools offer fellowships & assistanceships for grad school (and even law school). I once watched a video about Emory in which a student stated that he had received a fellowship or full ride or something like that for med school. I am sure that type of thing is extremely competitive, but it's worth checking into.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Once a student has complete his bachelor's degree, the student is considered independent for FAFSA purposes in grad/professional school. He will fill out the FAFSA using his income and assets--not yours.>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>You need to check EACH law school. They have their own policies on this. Some continue to require the information from parents on the finaid forms.</p>
<p>Regardless...the financial aid for grad students is very different than for undergrads. Most aid is merit based, not need based. There are not schools that meet full need via a form. No Pell grants, etc. </p>
<p>DS's EFC was $0. It did not translate into tons of need based aid for grad school.</p>
<p>Anyway...re: law schools, you really do need to check. My understanding is that some DO still expect to see the parent information regardless of the age of the student, marital status, previous bachelors degree, or any of the other criteria that would typically mean that the student doesn't need to provide parent info.</p>
<p>Since someone mentioned Emory, I just wanted to say that there are full scholarships based on merit, and they are very competitive and limited in number. Emory was the fortunate recipient of much money from the Woodruff family of Coca-Cola fame, and much of that does go into scholarships. There is other need based aid at Emory for grad work, but it is not given in the same manner as undergrad money might be. </p>
<p>Other types of grad schools (e.g. PhD) often give tuition plus living stipend and teaching hours may be required for the stipend. I realize that this is not law school, and the commitment is quite different.</p>