<p>I am applying to grad school and worried about financing it. I believe I qualify as an independent on the FAFSA so I guess only my assets would be counted (not my parents') and I made about $50,000 pre tax last year from my job. Among the people here, what amounts of FAFSA funding can I expect? Thanks!</p>
<p>The FAFSA doesn’t cover anything - the FAFSA is just the application for federal aid. It operates in two main ways: 1) gives the government notice about your eligibility for special federal aid programs, and 2) allows universities to determine your financial need/EFC. Graduate school applicants are automatically considered independent by the federal government.</p>
<p>The thing is, though, there is basically no non repayable federal aid for graduate school. It is not like undergrad, where grad schools attempt to meet your full financial need. If you are applying to professional master’s programs (like an MBA, MPP, MPA) or first professional degrees (like JDs, MDs, DDSs) you should know that the vast majority of students in those programs finance them through student loans or personal/family resources. Graduate students are eligible for up to $20,500 a year in Direct federal loans and up to the cost of attendance in Graduate PLUS loans (which are similar to Parent PLUS loans, except that you - the student - borrow them yourself).</p>
<p>Occasionally, some professional schools offer limited scholarships that you can compete for, but those are administered by the school, typically not based on financial need (or at least not solely on financial need) and are very competitive. They also usually don’t cover the full cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Some academic MA/MS programs in certain fields, and many PhD programs, come with funding packages. The funding can range from something like a partial tuition waiver for part-time work in the department to a full funding package with tuition, fees, and health insurance plus a monthly stipend. It’s commonly said that you should not go to a PhD program without full funding (and I heartily agree with that).</p>
<p>So basically, if you mean what amount of federal aid can you expect, the answer is probably nothing other than loans.</p>
<p>Oh no! That is horrible news to hear 
I am looking for a career change into a different field and looking to apply to a professional masters program but it may seem like I can’t afford it without loans… I may not have the credentials to apply to a PhD program. Man, what a bummer.</p>
<p>Huh. I’m not sure you understood juillet’s answer, Noblerare. Either that, or I didn’t understand your response!</p>
<p>You said in your second post that you’re not sure you can afford a master’s program without loans, right? Does that mean that you were expecting to get some Federal loans for your education? Well, you should be eligible for some loans via the FAFSA. That’s partly what juillet was saying.</p>
<p>Here are some quotes from her post:
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<p>and</p>
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</p>
<p>I am guessing that juillet took your question, “what amount of FAFSA funding can I expect,” to mean “how much can I get in Federal grants or free money.” But I took your question to mean, “how much federal aid of any sort (including loans) can I get?”</p>
<p>The answer is: Federal loans are likely in your future, via the FAFSA. She was saying you can’t expect much other than loans.</p>
<p>You should also be sure to apply for all of the departmental and school loans that are potentially available to you, particularly if you have outstanding merits. One of my kids is in a fully funded master’s program right now, paid through departmental scholarships and graduate teaching assistantships. He also filed the FAFSA as an independent (grad students are independents by definition) and was offered the full $20,500 in Direct Federal loans last year and just $7000 in Direct Federal loans this year. I’m not sure why he was offered so much less this year – it’s definitely NOT because of income! But maybe it’s because he only chose to borrow $7000 last year out of the $20,500 he was offered … and so maybe they limited his offer to $7000 this year? I’m not really sure how that works. But no matter, he doesn’t intend to borrow any of the $7000 that he was offered anyway. His departmental funding pays his way.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you! :)</p>
<p>Thank you, SimpleLife and juillet. I apologize for any misunderstanding but in any case, I was trying to avoid taking loans out as much as possible. I’ve been a working professional for two years and was fortunate enough to get through undergrad with a merit scholarship so I have no student debt. This is a huge blessing for me as I know many of my counterparts are still working to pay theirs off. Hence, I was looking into other scholarships, work studies, part-time, or grants as a way to fund myself and only using loans if absolutely necessary. </p>
<p>Oh, I see, Noblerare. So juillet read your question the way you meant it – not loans. </p>
<p>Since you were a full merit scholarship student in undergrad, perhaps you have the credentials to become a full merit scholarship (and/or with GTA) student in grad school. The son I mentioned in my post above also had a full-tuition merit scholarship for undergrad and then was awarded a full-ride scholarship to grad school. If you graduated from your undergraduate degree with the same great credentials that put you towards the top of the heap in your undergraduate applications, then you’ll likely be towards the top of the heap for your grad school applications, and that will improve your chances for funding – not from the federal government, but from the department and/or school to which you apply. But there’s no guessing what’s going to happen, of course. Some schools and some departments have the funding for great grad students, and some don’t. You won’t know who will offer what until after you apply. It doesn’t matter that you’ve been in the work force for 2 years. That, in itself, shouldn’t be a strike against you.</p>
<p>Thank you for the encouragement, SimpleLife. I will keep researching ways to fund my degree and continue working on my applications.</p>