Curious question

[JustaMom]

<p>Does anyone know (or know where I can find the information) over what period of time a student can get federal aid?</p>

<p>For example, if a program of study requires 5 years, will the federal aid continue through that period?</p>

<p>How about going into a master’s or doctoral program?</p>

[thumper1]

<p>For most masters or doctoral programs, students are considered independent students. AND the grad program finaid process is very different from undergrad. A lot depends on the program, college, and what the student brings to the program. </p>

<p>Re: finaid for dependent students via the FAFSA…until you have your first bachelors degree, you are not done. Schools reward finaid annually…and you can apply for as long as you need to. BUT I would venture that schools do not just give and give and give over a ton of years.</p>

[swimcatsmom]

<p>It varies according to the type of AID. Most federal grants are only for undergraduate students. Pell for instance is

the student must either be an undergraduate or be enrolled in an eligible postbaccalaureate teaching credential program

and

For Pell purposes, the regulations define an undergraduate as one who
is enrolled in an undergraduate course of study and who hasn?t earned
a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent or a first professional degree.
(?Professional degree? means a degree offered by professional
programs such as pharmacy, dentistry, or veterinary medicine.)
Length of undergraduate study
An undergraduate course of study under the Pell definition is one
that usually doesn?t exceed 4 academic years or is a program of 4 to 5
academic years designed to lead to a baccalaureate or first professional
degree. If the program is longer than 5 years (for example, a 6-year
pharmacy program), then students enrolled in that program are
considered undergraduate students only for the first 4 academic years
of the program.

</p>

<p>Federal loans are generally available for both graduate and undergraduate students. But there are limits both per year and for total cumulative undergraduate and/or graduate loans. For instance the current limits for Stafford loans are $3500 freshman year, $4,500 soph year, $5,500the remaining years up to a total of $23,000 for undergraduate. </p>

<p>Finaid has good information that is a little easier to follow (imho ) than the official government site <a href=“http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml[/url]”>http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[JustaMom]

<p>Thanks everyone. Now why couldn’t I find that information?</p>