Federal aid in addition to departmental support

[JosephKOR]

I apologize in advance if this is a dumb question.  I was admitted to a doctorate program and the department is offering full tuition remission, 80% health insurance, and a stipend of 14,000.  I noticed on the website that this totals approximately the estimated cost of living in this area.  However, I'm wanting to take out additional federal loans (Stafford or GradPlus) to up this stipend amount preferably into the 20-25k range over the year.  Is this possible or would I need to seek out alternative sources?  Thanks for any replies.

[korartiz]

From my experience with loans as an undergrad... any student loans you take out go directly to the school and are distributed to you from there. I imagine that since it equals the estimated cost including tuition/living/etc. that you won't be able to get any federal assistance or private student loans. You'll probably have to go private personal if you're looking for more money. 

 

Best thing for you to do though would probably just be to give the financial aid office a call at whatever school you were accepted to with funding and ask them. 

[JosephKOR]

I know there are options to appeal the cost of living.  Money is the last thing I want to think about while working on this.  Something tells me there is a way without having to go to the banks. 

[rising_star]

You'll probably be able to get unsubsidized Satfford loans without any real fuss from the school. I get offered them every year even though my stipend more than covers my living expenses.