ImGrumpy

Well played duhnay ! Sounds like you have figured this just right and set yourself up to be covered financially under most circumstances without mortgaging your future. Best of luck in both your studies and your future job search.

With all the doom and gloom on student loan debt these days, it makes it hard to realize that students have been taking out loans prior to 10 years ago and they have frequently done just fine. While students' situations now have changed the game and many are taking out unreasonable amounts of debt, you seem very financially responsible and are doing the right thing asking questions and examining your budget before you get into trouble. Overall, $20,000 is a very reasonable sum to take out in educational loans. No more expensive than a new car! Your total monthly loan repayment amount will be about $230 a month on $20,000 total. I would suggest that you could have more problem with the credit card debt. While $950 isn't a large amount, with high interest rates, you would be better served to get that balance down to $0 and then pay it off each month. If you start getting into that habit now, the $230-$250 a month on your student loans won't impact you so much after you graduate. Any way to earn a little money somewhere before school starts to take a bite out of that credit card debt? You will need a decent computer so if you could earn a little now, (maybe some summer tutoring or maybe one of your relatives could use a hand with something around the house) to either pay for the computer or pay off the debt, you'll be in good financial shape to start your graduate program. Here is a loan calculator specifically geared toward student loans you can use to calculate your monthly payments at different total loan amounts. http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

Most of the loan papers, both through the university and private lenders can be done online so you should be fine doing it from overseas. Since your EFC is high due to salary you received last year, I would contact Financial Aid and ask for a review. They may not agree to this until you are actually admitted so just ask them. They are allowed (but please note, NOT REQUIRED) to refigure your EFC using what is called "professional judgement". In this way, they can discount items that the government programs look at but which will have changed by the time you enter school if they see justification for it. For instance, if your parent lost a job or became disabled and had been out of work for 6 months by the time school starts, they can refigure your EFC using this information. The fact that you no longer have the income from that job would count here. As far as using up your savings you may be out of luck there. FAFSA looks at what assets you have available on the day you apply. If you choose to voluntarily spend those assets on a cruise or a new car or whatever, there is no way they could justify a reconfiguration to the government. (yes, there changes get audited by the govt). The trick here is buy that car or pay for that cruise BEFORE you fill out the FAFSA. However, your EFC could still be lowered based on the job change and lack of that higher income.

As of July 1, 2012 the rules for graduate student loans have changed. Subsidized loans are no longer available to graduate students. They can still borrow a total of $20,500 a year in unsubsidized Stafford loans at 6.8%. That interest will start to accrue as soon as you take the loan (which will generally be when the university receives the money and pays your tuition out of it). Also, keep in mind that it will be only $10,250 a semester so if you need over that for tuition for one semester, you will have to get either a Grad Plus Loan at 7.8% through the school or go with a private loan. Also, there is a 1% origination fee. Interest on the full 20,500 if the money is held for a full year will be $1394 and the origination fee will be $205. Here is a brief article explaining loans options under the new rules http://www.usnews.co...al-loan-subsidy You may or may not hear about your loan option through the school from financial aid before July. The reason is some schools, particularly state universities, don't set tuition and Cost of Attendance until the legislatures get around to the approval process in May or June. Once that happens, the loan information will come to you. In general though, almost any graduate student who hasn't defaulted on another loan can get the $10,250 a semester without a cosigner. Just accepting the government loans through the school is the easiest as they will automatically apply the money to tuition when it comes due. Given that your family has agreed to help out, this might be an option for you. Take out the offered government loan through the school. Then, when your family pays you, use that for living expenses etc and put it back to cover second semester tuition payment. As soon as they pay you the second semester, you can pay off the first semester loan. Yes, it will cost you the 1% origination fee and some interest but it will prevent you from taken out loan, pay off 2 months later, take out loan second semester, pay off 2 months later, etc. Also, some universities allow a payment plan with the tuition split into 2 or 3 payments over the semester. And the loans and documents can generally all be completed online so you could take care of this from home. I would suggest that you talk with a Financial Aid counselor at your new university. They will be able to tell you about the loans you will most probably qualify for through the university, the differences between them, whether they offer a payment plan, etc. If you get one who doesn't seem too helpful, hang up and call back the next day. Most are pretty knowledgeable but occasionally you get one who just doesn't seem to have it together.

Living at home a year and working would certainly help. Another option is plan to get a job after you get the degree in a geographic location where you have family who will let you stay with them for a minimal cost. Yes, it will affect your social life. And it will present its own stress levels living at home again. However, the amounts you could save could lessen the financial stress tremedously. I have an acquaintance in the same area that did just that. Got several job offers before graduation. Even though the pay was a little less "back home", she chose that one because the cost of living was also lower plus what she would save living at home made a huge difference. Left her fiance (who was still in school and acquiring his own debt) and moved back home. Is at the end of the first year and plans to stay 6 more months. She will start marriage with a nice amount in emergency savings, her undergrad loans paid off, and only her graduate loans left. It will make a big difference in how they will be able to live when they start their new life. An unexpected benefit is she and her Mom have actually become closer since they now both work in a medical setting and can bond over their experiences. Wouldn't have happened if they weren't together at the end of the day.

Since you are at a UT system school, the experiences from NSF folks outside of that system are not going to be any help to you negotiating insurance benefits. UT system has a documented insurance policy in place that is simply not up for negotiation. As of 2010 or 2011, the legislature (yes, in Texas the legislature dictates some of the guidelines) allowed graduate students with Fellowships of at least $10,000 per year to join the employee insurance program-BCBS (prior to this they had to use student insurance). The legislature had previously provided that GA/RA individuals would have 1/2 of their cost covered but that each individual campus could choose to cover the other half. I'm assuming those holding Fellowships of $10,000 or more now fall under the same guidelines. Again, assumption only. Because Southwestern operates under so many NIH/NIMH grants that require insurance be provided and are actually allowed to bill for a portion of this seperate from the instituitional grant, they may simply extend that policy to all Fellowship recipients even if the money cannot be billed seperately to the granting organization. In that case, the department will have to pick up the remaining 1/2 of the insurance cost. Southwestern already has a policy in place that determines if they are picking up the extra 1/2 insurance costs that the state of texas does not cover. That policy will apply to you. Regardless of whether the school has ever gotten a recipient of a grant from any particular funding source before, they have written policies in place that describe what will be covered in the event an institutional grant amount from ANY source does not cover all expenses. Those are the policies that will be followed and no negotiation is possible. So, again I say, just check with your CO and your department. They will be able to explain the policies already in place at your institution. And if you have chosen a school other than Southwestern, my guess is that school also already has written policies in place that will be followed and no negotiation on this matter is possible regardless of what anyone else's experience is.

From FAQs, March 2012 on NSF site 169. May my health insurance be charged to the COE allowance? The actual use of the COE Allowance is at the discretion of the GRFP Institution. I suggest you check with the CO at your institution and see if they use part of the COE Allowance to cover Medical Insurance.

You need to contact the school and get clarification of your funding status. Varying rules apply to different universities and different states. I am assuming you were attending undergraduate school in this state but you did not graduate High School in this state. What was your status during undergraduate years? In some states, you can become a state resident after one year living in the area. In some states, you cannot become a state resident even after that time period if the primary purpose of living in the area is to attend school. Some universities give automatic instate tuition (although not instate status) to teaching/research assistants in which case your in state tuition wavier will cover it all. Usually, some internal and external fellowship will also have this. Other universities will not grant this and in that case, yes, you would pay the difference between in state and out of state. Rules vary from state to state and even universities within state. The only way to know for sure is call either your dept or the graduate office or the financial aid office and get a clarification of exactly what they are offering you. After they explain it to you, I would ask if there is a webpage where this is explained. Better to see it in writing than be verbally told one thing, accept on that basis, get to school and find that your dept didn't really know what they were talking about. Bottom line is don't assume and don't guess. Don't rely on other grad students at the university. Go to someone official and make sure you understand exactly what your financial obligations will be. Also, it's good to know if your circumstances change (for instance you don't get a TA/RA after year two) how that will impact your status.

Here is more information on taxes for students and scholarships/fellowships directly from the IRS. Topic 421 - Scholarship and Fellowship Grants A scholarship is generally an amount paid or allowed to a student at an educational institution for the purpose of study. A fellowship is generally an amount paid to an individual for the purpose of research. If you receive a scholarship or fellowship grant, all or part of the amounts you receive may be tax-free. Qualified scholarship and fellowship grants are treated as tax-free amounts if the following conditions are met: You are a candidate for a degree at an educational institution that maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly enrolled body of students in attendance at the place where it carries on its educational activities; and Amounts you receive as a scholarship or fellowship grant are used for tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance at the educational institution, or for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for courses at the educational institution. You must include in gross income amounts used for incidental expenses, such as room and board, travel, and optional equipment, and generally amounts received as payments for teaching, research, or other services required as a condition for receiving the scholarship or fellowship grant. Also you must include in income any part of the scholarship or fellowship that represents payments for services. However, you do not need to include in gross income any amounts you receive for services that are required by the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program or the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship and Financial Assistance Program. If any part of your scholarship or fellowship grant is taxable, you may have to make estimated tax payments. For more information refer to Publication 970 , Tax Benefits for Education. Additionally, some tribal fellowships, even for room and board/etc are tax free. Depending on their home country, International students may not owe Federal taxes based on tax treaties the US has with their countries. They would then follow the tax rules of their own country.

Although I agree with this, It would be wise to check exactly what "full tuition support" means at this University. While tuition and academic fees are usually included, at some places "non academic" required fees are not included (think newspaper, athletic, graduate student association etc). So you may still owe some portion of the fees. Better to know this ahead of time. Be careful with this. How the school classifies a stipend/fellowship only affects whether they are required to handle Federal Witholding for Taxes or provide a W-2 or 1099 for this income or not, NOT if you owe taxes. If the school requires some work in return for the stipend (RA/TA) then it is considered wages and they are required to withold taxes. If no work is required for the stipend, then the school is not required to withold Federal taxes but any money that the graduate student receives that isn't used to pay tuition and fees is taxable to the student. If the student's total taxable income is less than $9500, ($3700 exemption and $5800 standard deduction), then the student doesn't need to file a federal income tax and will owe no taxes. However, with a $29,000 stipend, you will need to pay taxes even if the University doesn't withold any. Using the IRS witholding calculator, if you are single and have no other deductions, you will owe between $2400 and $2800 in Federal taxes. You will also owe state taxes in most states. That will vary but most likely between $950 and $1100 in state taxes. .

By this letter, you will end up paying 50% of the instate tuition, academic fees and engineering fees. "the total support offered to me has been calculated by SUMMING the in-state and out-of state tuition exemptions." The only purpose of this sentence is really an accounting play for the university. Here is how it would look for in-state vs out-of-state students if total tuition and fees were $10,000 in state and $20,000 out of state. In-state $10,000 Less $5000 50% cost exemption for graduate assistantship $5000 - Total you will pay. $5000 - Total support being offered. Out-of-state $20,000 Less $10,000 - 100% differential for out-of-state exemption Less $5000 50% in-state cost exemption for graduate assistanship $5000 - Total you will pay. $15,000 - Total support being offered. In the end, in-state and out-of-state students pay the same amount but for university accounting purposes out-of-state students are being offered a larger support package.

If you approach it as genuine concern and not demand, you should be okay at least seeing if there is anything possible that they can offer. Won't hurt to tell them that you truly do want Harvard but that you have another offer that would pay all tuition costs and is offering a TA that will be enough to cover all your expenses so you have to weigh your options. In the discussion, you might ask if there are any additional funding opportunities that might be available for the second year. I'd start with the program. As long as you aren't demanding and making ultimatums but just persuing your options, you shouldn't create any problems for yourself if you do decide on Harvard.

Please call and check this out unless your acceptance letter specifically said those won't be covered. Many Universities give instate tuition for TA and RA as well specific fellowships.