YaleMFAThrowaway

I think it's very possible that most students in the past few years have received full funding. The school has a different Dean from my time, which is one of the larger factors in fundraising. Best of luck!

Hi all, Yale MFA alum here who is lurking bc I have friends applying this year and this forum was so helpful when I was an applicant. I wanted to clear up stuff about Yale's financial aid and provide my own numbers for some transparency. Yes, Yale looks at your parents income (and spouse's if applicable). It doesn't matter if you're 23 or 50. You can petition to have your parents income not considered, but your parents not financially supporting you isn't considered a valid reason. I was able to have my father's income waived because I am estranged from him. I had to submit letters from family friends and divorce court documents to support my case. My mother was making $90k and I was making $45k when I filed for financial aid. I ended up getting ~$25k in aid my first year and ~$35k my second year. I graduated with $21k in student debt. Aid varies a lot year-by-year, depending on how much the school has raised. There have been years when everyone's tuition is covered. When I was a student, students were getting a little less. Still most people were getting some aid. I don't think I know anyone who took out $100k in loans. I have mixed feelings about them asking for your parents' income, but I understand that they want to prioritize giving aid to students who can't fall back on their parents. There's a lot of nepo-babies in the art world. My advice is to set a number for yourself of how much student debt you're willing to take on. For me, that number was $20k and only if I was accepted into a school that I felt like would really push my career forwards. No school is a golden ticket, but Yale did put me in a very good position to grow my career.