PhD Application Question

[Magnitude]

There's a question in my applications asking "Do you plan on applying for Federal Financial Aid?" Should I answer 'yes' to this question if my goal is to receive funding from the department (i.e. tuition waiver and stipend)? Thanks for your help!

[Vene]

The only federal aid you can get as a graduate student are loans. Would not recommend.

[Stats2015]

I was wondering the same thing. I didn't know if I said yes that they would offer less of a stipend.

[Magnitude]

Yeah, I think for my undergrad I had to apply for financial aid in order to get scholarships from my institution, but for graduate school it seems kind of counterproductive. Perhaps one of the professors who use this forum can weigh in.

[StatsG0d]

The only federal aid you can get as a graduate student are loans. Would not recommend.

You can also get Federal Work Study. I'm not sure, but maybe the FWS can be used to subsidize TA or RA duties, so that funding you is slightly less costly?

[cyberwulf]

I doubt it will matter what you answer on the form, since RA/TA funding is distributed without regard to financial need.

[Magnitude]

Thanks for the replies!