Financial Aid/Scholarships/Financial Package

[psycgrad37]

Hello everyone!

 

I have been admitted to a Psyc Ph.D. program at a state university. I was told that I would be funded via TA/RA/TF for most of my tuition and a stipend on top of that. I also received loans and grants through financial aid. I have been applying for scholarships because I thought I could have some "extra" money. However, I was informed by the financial aid office that whatever scholarships I receive, they will deduct that amount out of the loans. They're explanation was that I have to stay within their determined "cost of attendance". This seems unfair to me since their determined cost of attendance accounts for paying $600 rent a month, which is impossible. 

 

My question is, will they also lower my financial aid when I start receiving my TA/RA/TF paychecks? Has anyone experienced a similar situation in which they were told that the scholarships they receive will lower their financial aid loans? Will receiving scholarships affect next year's loan or grant amounts?

[TakeruK]

I can't speak for loans, but in general, grants/fellowships/awards from the University is reduced if you get external aid. For example, a student might be awarded $X for a fellowship within the University but if they win an external scholarship/fellowship, worth $Y, then their University fellowship amount might be decreased by $Y. 

[Damis]

Hello everyone!

 

I have been admitted to a Psyc Ph.D. program at a state university. I was told that I would be funded via TA/RA/TF for most of my tuition and a stipend on top of that. I also received loans and grants through financial aid. I have been applying for scholarships because I thought I could have some "extra" money. However, I was informed by the financial aid office that whatever scholarships I receive, they will deduct that amount out of the loans. They're explanation was that I have to stay within their determined "cost of attendance". This seems unfair to me since their determined cost of attendance accounts for paying $600 rent a month, which is impossible. 

 

My question is, will they also lower my financial aid when I start receiving my TA/RA/TF paychecks? Has anyone experienced a similar situation in which they were told that the scholarships they receive will lower their financial aid loans? Will receiving scholarships affect next year's loan or grant amounts?

 

From my experience, your total financial aid package can not exceed the cost of attendance. So with me, for instance, during undergrad I had a scholarship that would have paid up to $30k per year, but because the school I attended only had approx $20k in total CoA, I left $10k on the table each year.

 

The process by which state schools go about increasing their CoA tends to be political. With my alma mater, they took a poll every year, but generally didn't budge too much. This is because they didn't want students to think financing their education at their institution was out of reach. It's a crap position to be in, to say the very least.

[psycgrad37]

Yes, it is a terrible situation when you're not getting help from parents or other sources. Their CoA really is a joke. They expect you to live below poverty. Shameful because it deters some people from pursuing advanced degrees. 

[psycgrad37]

This cost of attendance nonsense is such bs. Does anyone have experience on how to raise it? What they have set out for me is completely unrealistic. Surely there are other grads out there who do not receive support from their parents who live off loans and stipends that have been able to make it work. I need to hear from you! As of now, I might not even be able to attend if I can't get them to raise my expected cost of attendance. 

[Aroma Black]

I am sure most grad students do not receive support from their parents.

 

Reducing the amount of loans you are responsible for is absolutely a good thing. I think the school is being quite responsible in advising you not to take on more debt. Given that you are negotiating with a state school, they are also probably unable to change their figures at will. The $600 rent number doesn't seem that unreasonable, unless you are in an expensive part of New York or California. Many grad students make ends meet by having roommates.

[psycgrad37]

All of the grad students I have talked to are receiving help from their parents. So, I need help from people who are on their own on how they do it. 

 

What the school is doing is capping how much money  I can have. I can understand them capping the loans so that students don't end up with insurmountable amounts of debt, but that's not what they do. Even if you receive extra scholarships, they deduct your loans instead. That doesn't sound logical or reasonable to me.

 

Basically, after accounting for tuition and books, the loans would leave me with $8,000. I don't think that is a reasonable amount. No one can live off of that without help from their parents/someone else.

[psycgrad37]

I can't seem to get a straight up answer from the financial aid office as to what the cost of attendance is. They say it depends on each student. From what I've gathered over speaking to several different people, the amount of student loans will be reduced by whatever amount of scholarships I receive in order to stick to the "cost of attendance" that they determined for me. So, so far I know scholarships and apparently the tuition waivers I was offered as part of the financial package as a TA/RA will reduce the loan amount. However, I still can't get an answer on whether the "stipend" (or rather a paycheck I will receive for being a TA/RA) will also reduce the loan amounts. No one in the financial aid office has been able to tell me whether it in fact will or won't. None of the grad students seem to know either because they all receive help from their parents and don't have to worry about loans. 

[rising_star]

I'm still not really understanding what the issue is. My PhD university did something similar but it wasn't a problem. If you're getting funding that covers your tuition, you don't need to take out a loan for tuition. If you're getting a stipend, then you shouldn't need as much in loan money to live off of. Take a look at what funding you do have, before considering loans, and see how/if you could live off of it. Surely there are other people in your program who have figured out how to do so. Look to them for advice.

[gellert]

This all sounds very typical.  I, and most people I know, manage to live frugally off a graduate stipend.  (Also, none of us receive any aid from our parents -- I think it's very unusual that you know people whose parents help at all.)  In fact, I haven't even taken out any loans.  You might not be able to maintain the lifestyle to which you are accustomed, but that's one of many sacrifices you make in pursuing higher education.

 

I won the NSF GRFP this year which will give me a federal stipend next year.  I had an internal fellowship from my university that covered my tuition and stipend.  I won't be getting paid double, though -- my external funding replaces my internal funding.  That's just how it works.

Edited May 24, 2015 by gellert

[psycgrad37]

The thing is the tuition coverage doesn't cover the whole amount. I will still be left with around $6,600 to pay out of pocket and the stipend they provide is only $13k with no health insurance. So that stipend will have to help me pay part of tuition, health insurance, and living expenses. It is definitely not enough and I know it's on the lower end of what grad students normally get as far as a financial package goes. However, that is the reality of it and what I have to work with. I will have to take out loans but I was hoping that scholarship will give me extra money, but I was then informed that any extra money I receive will only lower my loans and not be given "extra". 

[Horb]

You will have to take on a second job if you do not want loans. A lot of graduate students at my university do it. It is not easy, but if it is necessary, you may have to consider it or consider going to a school that offers full/more funding (perhaps even having to reapply if you are that set against loans). I too am surprised at the number of people receiving parental help. I knew more people in undergrad that had that experience, but not in grad school, unless something horrible happened.

[psycgrad37]

It's not so much that I am against taking out loans. I knew that I would have to to some extent. What bothers me is that even if I receive scholarships, they cap you at the cost of attendance, which is really low for my school. Let's say it's $20,000. So, if you get tuition coverage for $5,000 and $20,000 in loans, they will deduct $5,000 from the $20,000 leaving you with $15,000 to pay tuition, health insurance and live off of. So after you pay tuition and health insurance, you're really left with $5,000. Even if you get scholarships, all they do is deduct it off the loan amount, so you're capped at the $5,000. You do get to keep your stipend, which in my case is only $13k. 

 

The whole cost of attendance seems ridiculous to me. It's way below the poverty line, at least at my school. 

[TakeruK]

It's not so much that I am against taking out loans. I knew that I would have to to some extent. What bothers me is that even if I receive scholarships, they cap you at the cost of attendance, which is really low for my school. Let's say it's $20,000. So, if you get tuition coverage for $5,000 and $20,000 in loans, they will deduct $5,000 from the $20,000 leaving you with $15,000 to pay tuition, health insurance and live off of. So after you pay tuition and health insurance, you're really left with $5,000. Even if you get scholarships, all they do is deduct it off the loan amount, so you're capped at the $5,000. You do get to keep your stipend, which in my case is only $13k. 

 

The whole cost of attendance seems ridiculous to me. It's way below the poverty line, at least at my school. 

 

At my current school, the cost of attendance cap includes tuition. The number is something like actual cost of tuition plus $25,000 for living expenses. So an undergraduate or an unfunded graduate student (there are a few terminal Masters programs here) would be able to get a loan that covers tuition and living expenses. This number is also important to international students like myself because US Immigration uses this number as the baseline for how much support we need in order to qualify for the international student status.

 

It sounds really weird and crappy that your cap is so low that once you pay tuition, there won't be enough to live on.

[psycgrad37]

I know! I even mentioned that after tuition and health insurance, I would only have like $8k to live off of and they said that people around there could make it work with $8k but that's not what the cost of living calculator says. It's ridiculous. I've heard it has something to do with politics although not exactly sure how that plays out. I'm still trying to figure out ways to increase my cost of attendance to make it more liveable.