Fafsa and Grad school

sk8rmom
Thu, 21 May 2009 22:26:45 +0000

It may be possible that some schools do not administer grad student work study? Or she could have been mistaken, I have a friend who has worked in student loans at DDs masters school and she did not know there was grad student work study; maybe no one ever applied earlier enough before!?



somemom, I’m pretty sure that Federal WS is always at the institution’s discretion. They have a pool of funds and are allowed to set their own policies regarding distribution. Unfortunately, some distribute it exclusively to undergrads.



DD had an EFC of 0 for her grad school FAFSA. She is a dependent for taxes and we have another in college. Her award consisted of Grad Plus loans for the COA.



cap, do you mean she wasn’t offered her share of subsidized and unsub Staffords? This doesn’t sound right…maybe call FA and ask about them? Just for curiosity, did her grad school allow the 2 for number in college to determine her EFC, or didn’t it make a difference for her?

There is some good info posted on this site, though incomplete, relative to funding exclusively for grads:
[Graduate School Scholarships - Graduate Student Loans - GradView](gradview.com - gradview Resources and Information.)

and, in the “leave no stone unturned” category (especially for math/CS grads), additional sources to check here:
[FinAid | Answering Your Questions | Books Listing Fellowships (Graduate School)](http://www.finaid.org/questions/fellowship.phtml)

For those considering grad school in their home state, it’s worth checking into your state aid/scholarship programs as well. For example, in NY, the HESC website is a good source of info for state funded grants and scholarships available for grads and the following merit and need based aid programs:
[Programs for Graduate Study in New York State](http://www.hesc.com/Content.nsf/SFC/2/Programs_for_Graduate_Study_in_New_York_State)