My daughter will be graduating college in May 2020 and will be returning for a second undergraduate degree in the fall. She will continue to live at home with her mother throughout her second undergraduate degree, am I correct by saying she will not be eligible for any federal/local grants since she already has a bachelor’s degree, even though she will still be supported more than 50% of the time? Thank you in advance.
And many colleges specifically state that second bachelor degree students are not eligible for institutional aid either.
That you are supporting her has nothing to do with it. Shenhas completed a bachelors degree and therefore is not eligible for aid to complete a…bachelors degree.
I have to ask…why isn’t she doing a masters? Not that her aid would be huge, but she could take a grad plus loan if need be.
If she is old enough, she is independent. (Born before 1997, moves up 1 year every year).
There is a lifetime max of around $58k for ug stafford loans. Grad max is in the $150k.
What is the 2nd ug? Does grad make more sense?
I have 2 ug & 2 grad & did not reach the max amounts for stafford loans.
All specifics are available on the fed loan website.
It’s make more sense for her NOT to graduate (she can just leave 2 courses to take later, during the summer for instance, after her 2nd major is completed). If she doesn’t graduate she won’t have a bachelor’s degree and therefore will still be eligible.
What’s the goal though???
To clarify, she can get loans, but likely not grants.
Federal aid & state/institutional aid is typically set up to keep students who extend their program from getting aid. That is where SAP will come in.
Most institutional,state and merit aid are now designed for you to get in and complete your degree within 4 years.
Changing majors, adding second degrees, double majors as @kelsmom stated can put your student at risk of not graduating in 4 years. and not getting aid to complete the degree due to SAP
Schools will now not cover courses that are not necessary to obtain your first degree.
Look at what in her current major would serve as gen Ed or covers basic classes for her new major then see how many classes she still needs to take. I had to do that with a 7th semester student who wanted to switch from Environmental science to business as a major. She’ll graduate in 5 years, which is very common - with a business major and an environmental science minor. If she’d first graduated with her degree in environmental science , then tried to get a degree in business, it’d have been without funding. A 5-year degree is okay, many kids switch majors - even if they often do earlier than that!
unless you are in an approved 5 year program(or perhaps a student with a disability that has been approved for a year program), most state and institutional aid will not provide aid for a 5th year. You will still be eligible for PELL, you will still be eligible for Loans, but the institutional aid is not coming.
HESC, which covers NYS aid, straight up tells you that they are only cover 4 years of TAP, Excelsior, STEM incentive. Schools that give institutional aid will have this documented in their school’s financial aid handbooks that they only cover 4 years (8 semesters or 12 trimesters)
What aid do you think she would get…even if allowed? If she continues as an undergrad to get that second degree…without graduating in May…really all she would get is whatever Pell to which she is entitled, and remaining Direct Loans if she hasn’t reached the aggregate amount for undergrads.
As noted, many states and colleges limit their given aid to four years.
Again I ask…why another undergrad degree?
The support issue is not relevant at all.
Why is she getting a second undergrad degree? That’s often unwise. Often better to just go onto grad school.
What is her first degree in?
What is her 2nd degree going to be in?
What is her career goal?
She should look into getting her masters for 2nd degree. Won’t help you with $$ but overall makes more sense.
What does OP even mean by 2nd UG degree? Starting from scratch, filling core requirements all over again? If she simply needs to certify in some additional academic area, there are easier ways. If she wants to change majors, why wasn’t this done last year?
Many colleges will not allow kids to apply for a 2nd UG degree, when they’ve already completed the first- even if you pay entirely.
Make sure this is the right idea, in the first place. Are you out of this decision loop, she and Mom are telling you what they expect of you?
It depends. At least the student could borrow more, and depending on stats, might be offered some merit .