01.29.10 | Federal financial aid for graduate students
Many people think that graduate students are left out in the cold when it comes to federal financial aid. Fortunately, this is not true at all. In fact, graduate students have just as many federal financial aid options as undergraduate students.
For graduate students there are both subsidized graduate Stafford loans and unsubsidized Graduate Stafford loans. Subsidized Stafford loans are awarded based on financial need. Any student who qualifies for this kind of loan will not be charged any interest while they are in school. Unsubsidized Stafford loans are not awarded based on financial need. Any eligible student can take out an unsubsidized Stafford loan. The best thing about Stafford loans for graduate students is that the annual loan limits are a lot higher than they are for undergraduate students.
Graduate students also have the opportunity to apply for federal Graduate PLUS loans. This federal loan low fixed interest rate, but comes with the flexibility of a private student loan. The Grad PLUS loan is based on credit rather than on need so as long as student has decent credit they can qualify.
To qualify for any kind of federal financial aid a graduate student must file the FAFSA. If you are planning on attending grad school in the fall of 2010 the time to apply is now.
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