Six Important Considerations for Grad School Financial Aid

Students owe it to themselves to consider the true cost and the true reward of the educational opportunity before them. It is has been said that borrowing money to pay for school is an "investment" and not debt, but try telling that to the loan services when they send out the monthly bill.

Not only that, but the analysis is rarely about going back to school or not going, but rather about making the best possible choice. It may very well be the case that attending one's dream school without the aid of scholarships or grants is the best decision, but it might also be true that a secondary opportunity starts to look a lot better when the calculator comes out.

In order to help students make the best possible choice, adhere to the following tips:

• Understand the true cost of the education. Pay very close attention to not only the current COA, but also the inflation rate at that school. Some universities are seeing tuition go up more rapidly than others, so it makes sense to project the cost for the following year (or years) as well as simply looking at the tuition and cost for the first year.


• Carefully calculate the ultimate balance on unsubsidized and private loans. $100,000 in loans is a lot of money, but it is really a lot of money when the interest kicks in immediately and keeps accumulating for the life of a 10-year loan period. Students should make sure to work with the financial aid officers to figure out how much they will ultimately shell out by the time they finish making payments. Any differences in "free money" between school A and B will only become more exaggerated over time


• Be willing to briefly consider the enrollment decision in purely financial terms. It sounds overly rigid to advise this, but considering how romantically and emotionally most students make their decisions, it will help balance things out to take a short period of time to consider this the way an accountant would.


• Avoid falling victim to the "drop in the bucket" mentality. Most grad students find the sticker price of graduate school so shockingly high that they sort of give up before they even get started. Not only does this lead to less-than-careful review of the award letter, lack of effort in contacting the financial aid officer, and a failure to appeal for reconsideration (all points included above), it can also lead to careless spending. A bigger or nicer apartment, a car payment, and a brand new laptop are all very common expenditures for grad students, and while the extra five or ten thousand dollars doesn't seem like much next to a $140,000 education, that extra spending will absolutely be paid for by the loans with the worst terms and highest interest rates. Those seemingly small items will ultimately cost the student twice as much down the road.


• Doggedly search for outside funding. More common among high school students with parents who see their life savings dwindling away, searching for outside scholarships is often something that slips past graduate school applicants. This is a mistake, as there are a variety of unique scholarships, fellowships, and writing competitions available for graduate students of all stripes. Most top grad programs feature a list of such resources on their websites and there are also both free and pay sites that collate these opportunities.


• Carefully review the financial aid opportunities at every school of interest. This sounds incredibly obvious, but most applicants do not perform a thorough search of each and every scholarship and fellowship offered at the schools to which they are applying. The reason this is so important is that students may actually qualify for something they aren’t even aware of. Whether it is something fairly well known like Teach For America arrangements or something more unique, students need to perform this simple step of due diligence.

This advice has been clipped from the Veritas Prep Guide to Graduate School Financial Aid. If you want more help in getting into business school, law school, or medical school, call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with a Veritas Prep admissions expert today!

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Types of Financial Aid for Grad Students

Last week we announced our new Veritas Prep Guide to Financial Aid, a free resource for new admits or anyone else who's thinking ahead and wondering how they'll pay for their graduate degree. We spend most of our time working with applicants who are stressed about just getting into school; how to pay for it is considered a "nice problem to have." Once you are faced with this problem, however, it will likely hit you like a ton of bricks, so it pays to start thinking ahead and familiarize yourself with the financial aid landscape.

The following descriptions will help students understand the various types of financial aid awards:

• Scholarships – Almost always merit-based, scholarships are "free money" awards that are generally awarded with no strings attached. Some scholarships will carry a performance condition that requires a minimum academic standing, but that is somewhat rare in the graduate school arena. Scholarships are open to all students, regardless of need, and are often used both altruistically (to help students pay for school, which is often the intent of the original donor) and strategically (to woo – through incentives and flattery alike – top admitted students).


• Fellowships – Often just another name for scholarships, fellowships are more likely to carry with them an obligation to belong to certain organizations or to pursue particular career paths. Furthermore, fellowships can often be applicable only to a narrow group of admitted students who meet specific criteria as it relates to experience, geography, or demographic information.


• Grants – Grants are also "free money" in the sense that they do not need to be repaid; however, grants are typically awarded based on level of need and not based on merit. A grant is truly a gift from schools to students so that individuals who otherwise cannot pay for their education through their own contributions and standard federal loans will still be afforded the same opportunities as those who can pay for it. Grants are often the most strategic point of an award package, where schools calculate the necessary award to induce enrollment and often restructure packages upon appeal from the students.


• Subsidized Loans – The federal government provides two kinds of loans to graduate students: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are the most preferable because the government pays the interest on the principal amount until a period
  (typically six to nine months) following the student's graduation date. The two most common subsidized loans are:
  
  - The Federal Stafford Loan – Up to $8,500 of the total loan (which has a maximum of $20,500) may be subsidized. Subsidized amounts are determined by unmet student need, while any student can apply for up to the full $20,500 of unsubsidized loan money. The loan carries a capped interest rate of 8.25% and a maximum repayment period of 10 years.
  
  - The Federal Perkins Loan – Up to $6,000 per year of subsidized loan money, determined by both student need and the allotment from the Perkins loan to the school in question (some institutions receive a larger allocation than others). The Perkins loan is often used in financial aid packages for students with a very high level of unmet need (known as "exceptional need"). The loan features a 5% interest rate and must be paid back to the school in question over a maximum repayment period of 10 years.
  
  Subsidized loans are available to qualified students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.


• Unsubsidized Loans – Unsubsidized federal loans are often confused with private loans. They are still federal loans, but unlike subsidized loans, the interest begins to accrue even while the student is in school. Payment is still delayed until after graduation, but the principal amount will already be greater than what was initially borrowed when that day comes, given the interest.


• Private Loans – Private educational loans work in the same fashion as any other private loan such as a mortgage or a car payment in that the student borrows money from a private lender at a fixed interest rate. The interest rate varies depending on the year and current lending climate but is often more competitive than other types of private loans. Most elite graduate schools are part of larger universities with their own lending relationships, which makes the process easier and can often lead to slightly better rates than one could get on the open market. Private loans are often used to cover any "gaps" in a financial aid award and also to cover the student's expected contribution.

You can download the full report for free here. If you want more help in getting into business school, law school, or medical school, call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with a Veritas Prep admissions expert today!

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Introducing the Guide to Graduate School Financial Aid!

Grad school applicants spend countless hours stressing over the admissions processing and wondering about whether or not they'll get in, but they tend to forget their next-biggest source of anxiety: If they do get in, how will they pay for the whole thing? To take some of the mystery out of the financial aid process, we've just released The Veritas Prep Guide to Graduate School Financial Aid.

This isn't another "Find 1,000 free loans!" service... Rather, it's Financial Aid 101 for anyone who is about to start writing some really big checks to attend grad school. It covers grants, merit-based fellowships, subsidized federal loans, and private financing options. All of these should be part of your toolkit as you start to plan how to finance your degree.

The following are four key things you should do, starting now, as you consider how to finance your MBA, MB, or JD:

• Start early, and stay organized. While separate from admissions, the financial aid process is concurrent and equally important. Deadlines should be placed on the calendar and prioritized similar to admissions deadlines, and checklists can be very valuable in keeping everything organized.


• Doggedly search for outside funding. Searching for outside scholarships is often something that slips past graduate school applicants compared to their undergraduate counterparts. Scholarships, fellowships and writing competitions for graduate students are often listed on school websites, while independent websites also collate these opportunities.


• Carefully review the financial aid opportunities at every school of interest. While applicants generally apply to multiple schools, most applicants do not perform a thorough search of the scholarships and fellowships offered at each of the schools to which they are applying. This simple step of due diligence may reveal students qualify for a cost-savings they were otherwise unaware of.


• Emotions aside, consider the bottom line. Be willing to briefly consider the enrollment decision in purely financial terms. It sounds overly rigid, but considering how emotionally most students make their decisions, it will help balance things out to take a short period of time to consider the enrollment decision the way an accountant would.

You can download the full report for free here. If you want more help in getting into business school, law school, or medical school, call us at (800) 925-7737 and speak with a Veritas Prep admissions expert today!

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Harvard's Endowment May Face Losses

In another sign of economic stress, Harvard has announced that its $36.9 billion endowment may face "unprecedented" losses in the coming year.

While a Harvard spokeperson declined to comment specifically on how the anticipated losses would affect university operations, the university has confirmed that it will continue to offer free tuition to students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year, and offer reduced tuition to families with annual incomes of as much as $180,000.

Other Ivy League schools are taking additional steps to mitigate students' pain: Princeton will make more financial aid funds available to students, and Brown will relax rules barring students with unpaid tuition balances from registering for classes. Given the size of Harvard's endowment, even if it faces losses this year, we wouldn't be surprised to see the school take similar steps to protect its students.

If you're applying to graduate school this year, the bottom line is that top schools don't want to have to turn away anyone because of fianances, even in this economy. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and have a frank conversation with the financial aid office at your target school. Chances are that they want to work with you to help you make it work.

For more information on Harvard, visit the Veritas Prep HBS information page and read about the HBS 2+2 Program.

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Law Schools Loans Still Available ... Mostly

In the wake of the credit crisis, one question that has been top of mind for many prospective law students is whether the hefty loans relied upon by so many will, in fact, be available when it comes time to cut the check to the old office of the bursar.

The loan packages required to attend an elite law often soar well above $100,000 in total and are typically cobbled together through a variety of government-backed loans (Stafford, Perkins, and PLUS) and private loans. Given the way loans are drying up in other markets and industries, it was a reasonable question to wonder if they would still be there for students.

Finally, word is trickling down from sources like NYU Law School Dean Richard Matasar that the government-based loans will most likely be unaffected by the credit crisis. So most of the financial aid necessary will still be there.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like private loans will be as readily available. The National Law Journal worries about students applying for bridge loans to get from graduation to the bar exam, but those expenses are often covered by law firms as a benefit to the 2L summer associates who accept offers of employment in advance.

Of greater concern is what a reduction in loan availability will do to school choice and the inevitable leveraging game that follows when students are forced to make financial considerations the top factor in selecting a program. In the current J.D. market, students often bypass large scholarships in favor of loan-heavy packages in order to attend the top program or best fit available. However, if those discretionary private loans aren't available, students may not have a choice but to take the bigger scholarship packages. This tends to create an environment where schools get leveraged by other programs willing to spend big, and the result is confusion in the marketplace with regards to where top students will congregate and where top employers need to go to recruit.

All of that said, the major takeaway is that most of the loans will still be there, which should continue to fuel a recession-driven spike in graduate school applications.

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Loan Forgiveness Programs: Should Applicants Consider Them?

Obviously, one of the primary factors that govern a graduate school applicant's enrollment decision is The Almighty Dollar. As in: how much will this cost, what kind of aid can I get, and what sort of earning potential am I looking at once I finish? Analyzing educational cost is a complicated task because students must first identify actual numbers (sticker price - available scholarship and grant money) and then put those numbers in the proper context by understanding loan repayment and properly estimating future salary figures.

See, complicated.

One thing that is further complicating this financial aid stew is the addition of loan forgiveness programs. Popularized by elite law schools, the concept is a relatively simple one: eschew the big paychecks (and long hours) of a big law firm in favor of public interest work and, in exchange, you will get help paying back your enormous graduate student loans. Law schools have discovered that an attractive loan forgiveness program is a terrific marketing tool. This is primarily due to the fact that a huge number of law school applicants (especially those who are qualified to land admission spots in the elite programs) are highly optimistic people who view themselves as truth-seeking, freedom-fighting altruistic beings. In other words, everyone thinks they are going to do public interest work when they first apply to law school.

This poses an interesting question: how much stock should a top-flight candidate put in a school's loan forgiveness program?

A quick look at any reputable survey (I'm too lazy to find one at present) will tell you that the number of law school graduates who ultimately do public interest work is far, far less than the number of law school applicants who say they will one day do public interest work. There are many factors that play a role in this phenomenon. It is easier for a student at an elite law school to secure a summer associate position at a law firm than with a cutting edge public interest entity. Public interest firms and groups have fewer recruiting resources. The pressure to work in the big legal markets like New York or L.A. force students to search for an accessible path that will also pay the costs of relocating and then living in those cities. There are also simple (and often perverse) economic incentives, career-building considerations, and personal preference factors to consider. But the simple truth is that the number of actual public interest lawyers is so much lower than the number of hypothetical public interest lawyers because - pay attention now - people have no idea what they want to do when they are applying for law school! In fact, it is safe to say that the "actual" number for any subset of the legal profession is substantially lower than the suggested numbers generated by surveys of law school applicants.

It is human nature to change one's mind, especially after being exposed to hundreds of hours of logical reasoning and critical analysis.

So this takes us back to our initial question, framed in a new way: if students think they might want to do public interest law, but know they probably won’t, should they put much (or any) stock in each school's loan forgiveness program?

My answer to this - perhaps surprisingly - is yes. But it comes with a caveat. Students who see themselves doing public interest work after law school should still take that aspect of a program into account, but must do so with an understanding of human nature and the likely evolution that will take place in law school. This approach will help applicants identify those programs that offer a more realistic possibility of providing a future benefit.

Take, for instance, the different loan forgiveness programs at both Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School. Both have interesting and competitive loan forgiveness programs that work in very different ways. Harvard has introduced a new program that subsidizes a public interest student's education by picking up the tab on the entire third year of law school ($45,000). This will, no doubt, catch the eye of more than a few applicants. However, it comes with more strings than John Cusak's puppet show in Being John Malkovich, as students who receive this subsidy are then required to work at least five years in a qualified public interest position. Five years! If students do not meet their end of the bargain, Harvard has to come and ask for that money back.

Chicago's program, on the other hand, is more modest in scope but less fraught with peril. Students who do post-graduate work in the public interest sector are eligible to receive up to $10,000 for each year that they do so, for as many as seven years. This might not be as enticing to an applicant as the promise of a free third year of tuition, but it comes at no risk and is still a very nice way of rewarding people for using their legal educations to make the world a better place (presumably).

Law school applicants everywhere, consider loan forgiveness programs if you see fit, but be sure to analyze them with the proper lens of perspective and rational expectation. And just know that whatever school you are analyzing and whatever program they are offering, the whole thing is primarily a marketing concept brilliantly designed to play on your own idealized view of your eventual career.

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