Thinking ahead (way ahead), it is likely that I will have two kids in grad school at the same time. If all goes as planned, they will both be lucky enough to complete their undergrad education without debt. However, it is likely that they will need to borrow $$$ for their graduate degrees. How does any of this work? Are students limited to the $27k loan cap, like in undergrad, with parents responsible for the rest? And can parents, even with an excellent credit score, qualify for co-signing loans for 2 kids at once? Or is there another way? My kids know that paying for grad school will be their responsibility but is that even possible without parental involvement/safety net?
What kind of graduate school? For certain types of programs, attendance is only recommended if the student is fully funded.
The unfunded types of grad schools, unfortunately. One will likely be in a T14 law school, may qualify for some merit. The other wants to be an occupational therapist.
Unfortunately, many people borrow massive amounts to pay for law school and many new law grads struggle to find jobs.
Some grad school programs including law school and OT school offer merit aid to their students. This is awarded based on the strength of the application for admission Nd the desire of the school to have you in the cohort.
Keep in mind…many law schools will still require parent financial information on the financial aid forms.
Grad students can take Direct Loans but there is a aggregate limit depending on the type of program they are in.
They can also take grad plus loans up to the cost of attendance.
True enough @rosered55 . But for now, at least, we will assume that won’t be the case. She’s a top student at a top university, with very specific career goals that she’s already working towards. I may be wearing blinders, but at this stage of the game I’m not overly worried about her eventual employment, more wondering about the logistics of funding the next steps of her education, should she choose to stay on this track.
@thumper1 thank you! Are those direct loan limits typically found on the school websites? I want to make sure we all know exactly what we are getting into long before this is a reality.
I thoughts my answer was pretty clear.
In the majority of cases, grad students in OT and Law School pay the full cost of attendance. No aid at all.
Some…just some…some students will get merit aid based on the strength of their application. But at some OT schools and some law schools…there is NO merit aid.
Many law schools require parent information on the financial aid forms for law school. So be prepared for that.
Most law and OT students fund their studies with loans, loans and more loans. They can take Direct Loans upmto a certain amount…and they can take Grad Plus Loans out up,to,the cost of attendance.
Or…their parents can pay the bills.
That is how Law School and OT School is funded.
Was I not clear the first time on funding for these programs?
https://abovethelaw.com/2018/04/the-top-20-most-affordable-law-schools/
“Almost everyone knows that it costs an arm and a leg to go to law school, and that at this moment in time, the average law school graduate leaves law school up to six figures in debt. Student Loan Hero, a website that helps students and graduates organize, manage, and repay their student loans, was interested in seeing which law schools would have the greatest payoff, and in a survey of 116 schools, found that graduates owed an average of $111,752 in student loans at graduation.”
I am a lawyer; I graduated in the late 1980s from one of the “most affordable law schools.” My parents were able to pay for law school without taking out loans, but law school cost a lot less then.
@thumper1 what did I say that led you to believe your answer was not clear? It was both clear and helpful, and I appreciate the time you took to respond. You sound frustrated with me, and I’m not sure why. My follow up question to you was in reference to your comment that there may be aggregate direct lending limits that may vary by type of graduate program, which I read as meaning that the limits might vary by type of degree and I was curious as to where I could get more info on that. We are certainly not expecting aid, and recognize that while there is some chance of merit for law school kid if her eventual applications are strong enough (which they might be), that should not be relied upon. Sorry to have troubled you.
Well…i see now, your “true enough” comment was directed to another poster. But before you edited that…it came right after my post…so it seemed directed to me. Sorry for the confusion.
Direct loan limits…
If younadd in living expenses…you can see the Direct Loan won’t cover the costs…so the student can also take Grad Plus Loans. Total…up to,the cost of attendance.
It’s a HUGE amount of loan debt…huge.
Grad/med/law students can pretty much borrow whatever they need, without parent cosigners. First thru direct loans, and then thru grad plus for the remaining. Some use Wells Fargo or discover for their grad/med/law loans
More law schools with merit scholarships now, but you may have to meet certain criteria to keep it and schools may do stuff like put all the scholarship students in one section graded on a curve so that only a certain percentage keep them.
HYS law school only offers need based aid, no merit. Parent (and spouse if student is married) financial information is needed to determine financial need.
T4-14 offers very very very competitive merit money (don’t expect full tuition because there are few). NYU offers scholarship money for students who want to do public service.
@mom2collegekids said, that Law and med students can borrow up to the full cost of attendance through direct and gradplus loans (they should make sure that they maintain a good credit score).
Thanks,all. That’s exactly what I needed to know. @PurpleTitan: Thanks for the info about some schools pitting the scholarship kids against one another Survivor-style; when the time comes, she’ll have one more thing to investigate.
Grad school is very similar to undergraduate, only less Pell grant money. My undergraduate was $25k with loans. Graduate school was double the cost of my undergraduate for an in-state university in Texas. I ended my masters degree with another $25k in Stafford loans. The $50k in loans was well worth the money. I had to switch my career to computers. After 4 years, I’m at a place where I can manage my payments. That’s as a mostly one income family with a modest house and a car payment. In about 2-3 years, I’ll likely be close to a 6 figure salary.
There is no Pell grant for grad school, also most students have exhausted their state aid by then.
Loan or merit is pretty much it for professional grad programs.
Is this real? Is there evidence of this? If so, its horrendous.
Be aware that the PROSPER Act that is currently being considered by Congress may limit federal loans for graduate students. I say “may” because it’s not a given that it will be passed as written. The most drastic proposal is to limit graduate federal loans to $28,000/year unsubsidized with no Grad PLUS. Other proposals include unsub up to $30,000 or Grad PLUS with underwriting (as opposed to the current relatively loose credit check) - one proposal uses FHA guidelines to qualify. The financial aid community is pushing hard to keep the Grad PLUS as an attainable loan for grad students, because private loans may very well not be a possibility for may students, and even if they qualify, these loans do not offer income based repayment.
Law schools a bit lower down the pecking order (but still very reputable) do offer merit scholarships. A friend’s son is at a law school in the top 30 on a full tuition scholarship.