Hey all,
I know this is a question for my school, but its Fin-Aid office hasn't been particularly competent-seeming when I've called them about other questions.
I'll have a teaching assistantship in my program, which includes a tuition waiver and stipend. My duties as part of this TA-ship will include grading the first year, then leading discussion sections, etc. - typical stuff.
Obviously the tuition waiver is counted as financial aid that I'm receiving. It's reported to the Financial Aid office and decreases the amount of student loans I'm able to take out.
Now, I had myself under the impression that the TA-ship stipend was also customarily counted as financial aid (as it would be if I was receiving a fellowship instead of a TA-ship). But I realize now that since the stipend is payment for work performed, it's almost certainly going to be counted as wages, and so NOT financial aid - so that my stipend amount would not decrease the amount of student loans I can take out.
Sound right?