Financial aid for your graduate program works a little differently than financial aid at the undergraduate level. It’s important to know the differences and explore your options before accepting loans.
Some things to know about financial aid at the graduate school level:
- You don’t need to enter your parents’ information on your financial aid application.
- Need-based Pell Grants are not available at the graduate school level. Unfortunately, there is no need-based federal grant program for graduate students.
- Interest rates are higher for graduate students than they are for undergraduate students. Interest rates for graduate school can range (between 3% and 8%).
- There are borrowing limits for graduate students. The current federal direct student unsubsidized loan limit is $138,500 for graduate and professional students.
- The Federal Graduate PLUS loan is a credit-worthy loan that graduate students may borrow up to their cost of attendance outside of loan limits.
Federal Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA)
Completing the FASFA is pretty easy. It takes an average of 17 minutes for students to complete.* Follow these basic steps.
- To get started, complete and submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available online at fafsa.ed.gov. Submit your FAFSA by the priority deadline to ensure timely processing. The University of Minnesota code is: 003969
- Submit all requested additional forms and documentation.
- Read and review all notifications concerning your financial aid as alerted on your University of Minnesota MyU Finances page.
- Review awards to accept, reduce or decline financial aid awards as indicated on your University of Minnesota MyU Finances page.
- Complete and submit promissory notes for any accepted loans.
Additional resources:
*Studentaid.ed.gov