when your school's "cost of attendance" budget is not enough

[joanna.nola]

Hi everyone: I'm a second semester student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. This is my second time around in grad school, so I'm familiar w/ financial aid at the grad level, but PA school is its own beast since we are in school 3 semesters a year and cannot work. Currently, our school (like all schools) creates a yearly budget for tuition, fees, books/supplies, health insurance, and living costs. Everyone gets the $20,500 of subsidized/unsubsidized and the rest is made up in GRAD PLUS loans (the total is just over $33K/year). The problem is, the amount they have for our "budget" is not enough for those of us paying for everything (not getting money from our parents or something; I have like $100/month for groceries till next semester; and I like vegetables and fruits too much). I have talked to our faculty and our Financial Aid Department, but they haven't budged on this number. This is very annoying to our class, many of whom are contemplating getting jobs (impossible and actually prohibited) or taking out private loans (terrible idea) or are living off credit cards. The person in Financial Aid compares us to undergraduates, specifically "accelerated nursing program." She even seemed to suggest I get a job, to which I of course replied that our program prohibited it and that being in a classroom 40 hours a week and studying several hours a day on top of that does not leave much time for working anyway. I have done all the research and the medical students at our school have a living budget that is over $8,000 more a year than us (and summers off of course!).

My question: 1) Have any of you run into a similar problem with your school, where they don't seem to understand that PA students are different than undergrads or perhaps even other grad students when making a budget?

2) Why does it benefit my school to act as a gatekeeper to loan money that the federal government allows me to borrow, and that I will have to pay back? Am I missing something in their calculus? Does this benefit them in some way that I'm missing?

3) If you are at a PA school with a Med school do you get similar money to live off of (beyond tuition and all that) as them? (Are your "budgets" beyond tuition and fees similar)

4) If you have a budget from your program that you can share with me, please PM me.

 

I am hoping our Department will go to bat for us (they generally do), but I'm a little frustrated with the reception by our University thus far.

[DogLovingPA]

EVMS (Norfolk, VA) budgets living expenses for the entire 27 month program at about 50K. If you go to their financial aid web page, you can see full budgets for all their health care programs. Our budget for living expenses appears to be identical (or very similar) to that of the med students.

[pagirl82]

I had this problem. I was even getting some help from my parents, but not nearly enough. Cost of living was high where I was living. I asked about getting a private loan. Financial Aid told me to submit documentation of my costs and they'd adjust my Grad Plus loan. Remember, it's not coming out of their pocket. They just want to make sure they aren't promoting irresponsible lending. Giving a PA student enough to pay for rent, utilities, transportation, and groceries isn't irresponsible.

[just_me]

Theres suppose to be an appeals process of sorts where you are required to show evidence of the additional need and why it is necessary. not sure if this helps but I think at USA after 6 monsth you can appeal to get instate tuition which should givve you extra money as lonng as they do not adjust your award

[joanna.nola]

Actually, USA let's you be in-state from the beginning, with very minimal documentation (change license, car registration etc.) It is a HUGE plus of the program. But still, they were giving us the same amount of loans as undergrads, which wasn't going to work for many of us. For instance, you HAVE to have a car (trust me, I did not own a car for years and realized it would be impossible to do the program w/o one). I DID win this battle, after going to financial aid a bunch of times, doing a ton of research, presenting our case. They increased our loan amount about $1,800/year ($3,600 for the two years). This was still a bit low, but made things a bit more do-able. I say go to your financial aid office and present your case. DO NOT take out private loans! Even though Grad Plus is a somewhat high interest rate, a PRIVATE loan will not be forgiven if you ge the chance to do that. I intend to join NHSC ($60 K paid back in 2 years, more for more years..)

[Vulgatus]

Why is everyone anti private loans? Is it just because of the loan forgiveness option (and is that widely available?)? Or are there other reasons?

 

I spoke with a Wells Fargo representative and PAs qualify for their Medcap loan. The interest rate they gave me in while in school was 6.0% and when you show proof of graduation and set up your payment plan, it's reduced to 5.5% thereafter. No penalties for making extra payments either. The rate is based on the current prime rate of 3.25% and regardless of how high it climbs, the loan interest rate will never exceed 7.5%. Considering GRAD plus loans are around the 6.9%ish range, I don't see why this is such a horrible route to take for the extra money you may need. The one thing I did note that seemed rather ridiculous was the amount they're willing to lend: up to a maximum of 85k a year. I guess as long as you take out only what you need you should be fine. I haven't signed the dotted line yet but I'd like to hear some feedback about private loans before I do.

[delco714]

My grad+ is 7.9% :(. Good thing I don't have to take out THAT much of it.

[Guest guthriesm]

People need to avoid private loans for a few reasons. First, they typically have a much higher rate (I have a family member whose rate was over 15%). Second, they are not secured and do not offer any assistance with payment (unlike Federal Loans). Finally, they don't cap how much one can borrow- meaning that some students are unfortunately susceptible to getting into serious financial trouble. Some of the banks were a bit shady about their business practices and it was part of why the recession started. That is why the feds took over the loans this year.