<h1>Financial Aid for Graduate Students</h1>
<p>Finding financial aid for graduate study could be a complicated task, but, whether you believe it or not, obtaining money is not almost as perplexing as you may think. The process of getting financial help is different for every student. It is very important to check with your institute about what financial support is available.</p>
<p>Most graduate students rely on student loans. The Federal Stafford Loan Program grants around $20,500 to a graduate student and around $38,500 to a Health Professional. Moreover, you can borrow through the Federal Grad PLUS program, but the loan depends on credit, repayment starts within sixty days just after the second disbursement. Deferment programs are also available, which permit you to delay the payment as long as you’re enrolled half time or more. </p>
<p>Through Federal Grad PLUS, you are able to borrow nearly all your attendance cost less other financial aid which includes other loans. Furthermore, other private/alternative loan options are available that assist in meeting the costs that aren’t covered by Stafford loan. In case, you’re attending your school half time or more, you are eligible for applying to defer the repayment up till after your graduation.</p>

<p>It is very important to remember your expected income when accepting an offer for financial support or signing your promissory note. So, always borrow taking your needs into account. </p>
<p>Although the process of financial aid is quite a bit different for every student, there are some things which are true for everyone. The first thing is to apply even though you think will not qualify. A lot of factors are involved in determining if you are eligibile for financial aid; you won’t be able to know them unless you try.</p>
<p>The second thing is that your eligibility for Stafford Loan programs, many other private loans, scholarships as well as fellowships, is determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It is essential to file the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Make sure to contact the graduate admissions office of your school as well as your department for inquiring about the accessibility of tuition remission, assistantships, and/or institute-specific fellowships.</p>
<p>For the graduate students, financial support is a loan, assistantship or fellowship program. Most of the graduates depend on some kind of financing (like the Federal Stafford loan) to compensate for college tuition and expenditures.</p>
<h3>Filing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) </h3>
<p>The fastest way for filing the FAFSA is to file it online FAFSA on the Web.</p>
<p>File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as soon as possible after the first day of month of January in the year you will require funding.</p>
<h3>Filling out FAFSA will be quite easy if you’ve the following items with you: </h3>
<ul>
<li>Your driver’s license and Social Security card</li>
<li>Your W-2 Forms or the other records of income you have earned (your spouse’s as well, in case you’re married), federal income tax return.</li>
<li>The records of other income you have received that hasn’t been taxed, taking in welfare benefits, TANF, social security benefits, veteran’s benefits, and clergy or military allowances</li>
<li>Your present bank statements plus records of bonds, stocks, and other investments</li>
<li>If applicable, your farm or business records as well</li>
<li>In case you aren’t a citizen of the U.S., your alien registration card</li>
</ul>

<h3>Institutional Aid Application</h3>
<p>You are required to fill a form that is provided by some schools, known as an institutional aid application. You are required to tell the institute about the outside scholarship which you intend to obtain. Also, on the form, you will inform the school if you are interested in other forms of financial aids for example, work study. In addition, on the form, you can explain any particular condition not taken into consideration on the FAFSA.  Your school will mail you, if one of these applications is required by your school.</p>
<h3>Determining if you are eligible for Financial Aid</h3>
<p>Processed data from FAFSA or/and the CSS Profile is used by colleges to determine if you are eligible for financial assistance. Determining your eligibility for the award is based on the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) determined by your demographic, household and financial data, whether you completed the Profile or the FAFSA. </p>
<p>The EFC is the ability of your family to fund college based on parent and student income plus asset information, the state where you are residing, size of household, and the number of members of the household in the college. A copy of the EFC Formula can be requested for free just by calling 1-800-4FED-AID to request the current handbook of SFA.</p>
<p>The school that you are attending establishes a COA (Cost of Attendance), which includes room, board and tuition, fees plus expected living expenditures including supplies and books.</p>
<h3>Financial Need= COA – EFC</h3>
<p>Financial need is a term that is officially used for how much financial help based on need you are qualified for. Financial need is computed by deducting the EFC from COA. If you want to obtain need based financial assistance, you should have a COA that is greater than your EFC.</p>
<p>Your school’s financial aid office will use the available resources based on need to see if they qualify for your Financial Need.</p>
<p>As the COA included expenditures beyond tuition like board and room, Tom may be able to come across housing at a cost that is less than that has been budgeted for him by the school.</p>
<h3>Follow-up Forms</h3>
<p>When the college receives your FAFSA data, it might still require further information for completing your award; this procedure is known as “verification”. In case you’re chosen for verification, you’ll be requested by the school to complete a Verification Worksheet and to supply copies of your federal income tax returns plus W-2 wage earnings statements. It is important to note that the college won’t process financial aid, if this added documentation is lacking.</p>
<p>And, in case you plan to accept Perkins or Stafford loans, you’ll also be required to sign promissory notes. Your college will offer you with specific info on the ways to complete this part of the procedure.</p>
<p>Moreover, you should search for and apply to every outside funding resource. A great source for the unmet need is scholarships. One resource is ScholarshipExperts, a division of Goal Financial that has been regarded as the best Scholarship website each year since 2003 by the Forbes magazine.</p>
<p>Carefully read everything sent by the college and promptly reply to the requests. In case you do not understand anything or have queries regarding anything, you may call the financial aid office and inquire about it. They will offer you a helping hand. Lastly, keep in mind that you will be required to re-apply each year.</p>
<h3>Kinds of Aid</h3>
<p>For graduate students, the chief source of financial assistance is loan. Fellowships, scholarships, grants and work programs are among the other resources of financial aid. </p>
<h3>Loan Programs</h3>
<ul>
<li>Federal Stafford Loan (Direct/ FFELP)</li>
<li>Federal Grad PLUS Loan</li>
<li>Federal Work Study</li>
<li>Institutional Assistance</li>
<li>Employer / Corporate Benefits</li>
</ul>