I will be filling out the FAFSA form in the coming weeks in preparation for matriculating to med school in 2012. My husband will still have 2 semesters of undergrad left once I start, and his goal is to continue on to grad school. How does financial aid work for married people when both are students? People tend to look at me like I have two heads when they find out we’ll both be in grad school at the same time, but I know this isn’t a unique situation because plenty of people meet in med school and marry, combining their massive debt. Luckily I’ve been working during undergrad so at least we’ll be starting the process without any debt (other than what he’ll need to borrow for those last 2 semesters). If my husband has income from part-time work, will that affect how much I qualify to borrow in future years? I know some schools will take into consideration that any income I make in 2012 prior to matriculation is not money that will be coming in while I’m in school, but I don’t know how a spouse’s income, or lack thereof?, is factored in. Does anyone have experience with this, or know where I can look for more info? Thanks!!
I had heard some tell that they actually look at your parent’s income (which seems bizarre) but I would love to hear from someone who had some hard info on this as well.
When I was filling out FAFSA’s for my two kids both in college at the same time, they considered that I had two kids in school and split the “expected family contribution” between them. I would expect that they would do the same with you and your husband.
Regarding family income, it’s my understanding that for married students, they stop looking at your parents income (and for folks such as myself that are more than 20 years post living with their folks).
Kate
Believe it or not, although I am almost 37 and have received zero financial support from my parents since age 18, if I want to try qualifying for any school-offered scholarships, I must supply my parents’ info. In a way, I understand it because it wouldn’t seem fair for someone whose parents are wealthy and who will be inheriting all that money upon their parents’ demise (and will also certainly be receiving financial help along the way) to receive free scholarship money while others who don’t come from wealth might not receive it. I understand the logic, but it may prove very difficult to actually get that info.
Thanks for the info Kate. I haven’t actually opened the FAFSA application yet, but plan to in the next 2 weeks.
You should ask the financial aid office about this, but this is what I think:
As a graduate student, you are considered an independent. So your parent’s wealth or poverty won’t affect you unless you want the primary care loan.
As for your spouse’s part-time income, it depends on how much it is. I claimed a few thousand dollars in income before my first year of medical school from part-time work and was still able to borrow a lot of money. So if he makes a few thousand, it would not affect you too much. So, you can definitely borrow the full amount for tuition and living.
So (from experience as a graduated med student) - For med students, the EFC (expected family contribution) really doesn’t matter. You will be eligible for federal loans up to the cost of attendance at your med school (tuition/fees + budgeted living expenses). A spouse’s income should not affect this. My husband worked full time as a teacher while I was in med school. All med students are considered to be independent students and it is expected that you will not be working (and thus have no income to contribute towards expenses).
As for parental info: as mentioned above, this does not affect your eligibility for loans. Many med schools use this info to determine who they give scholarships. Technically, if you choose to forgo institutional scholarships, I don’t think they can require you to provide parental information (no matter what they say). I had one year where I did not feel comfortable asking for parental info and gave up my opportunity for scholarships that year. The other years, I provided the info.
Thank you for the info Emergency! Now that this is all actually happening, I have to start figuring out the financial stuff. If I understand correctly, any money in savings (excluding retirement accounts) will be deducted from the amount that can be borrowed? Do I need to start stashing cash in the mattress so we will have emergency $ that won’t be factored into the loan package? I’ve also been told that the loan money isn’t disbursed until August sometime, so obviously money should be set aside for startup costs like first month’s rent and security deposit, books, etc - should we give this $ to someone to hold so it isn’t factored into the loan package?
When I started the med school application process, for some reason I was under the impression I’d know where we’d be moving by the end of the year, giving my husband time to also get set up with school and find work. However, since I still have several more interviews + wait time for decisions + the waitlist fiasco, it’s entirely possible we’ll only have a month or two to move and get set up. With the job market the way it is, my husband could have difficulty finding work, so I want to be sure we’re set in the $ department.
Switzerland,
I don’t know about stashing money in the mattress, but I tried to fill out my Fafsa after paying as many bills as possible and paying down or off any credit, as your debt is not figured in, but your money in savings and checking is.
Kate
- Switzerland Said:
Switzerland,
I don't think this is the case for independent medical students (anyone > age 25 or married). In fact, my school's financial aid office recommends that medical students establish a cash reserve account for unexpected expenses since the amount of loan proceeds we can borrow is based on a very modest budget.
- Switzerland Said:
Yes, by all means if you can.
- Switzerland Said:
That is correct. Loan proceeds are distributed during orientation week, but I don't think you need to go to the trouble of hiding assets.
- Switzerland Said:
Students with multiple acceptances must commit to 1 school by May 15. Therefore, you will know where you are going at least 3 months in advance of orientation week, though that could still be cutting it close.
Thanks for the info Kate and TicDocDoh! I’m sure I’ll have more questions as I go along.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but you may have to commit to “a” school by May 15, but it may not be “the” school you end up attending. You can still slide into a vacated spot later in summer, at a different school, can’t you?
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but you may have to commit to “a” school by May 15, but it may not be “the” school you end up attending. You can still slide into a vacated spot later in summer, at a different school, can’t you?
Well, I suppose you can pay your (non-refundable) deposit and accept admission at one school, and then write back to cancel your acceptance if you are later accepted to a higher choice school where you were wait listed, but that is not very professional behavior.
If you are applying to DO schools, they don’t hold their acceptances - rolling admissions, rolling acceptances, rolling deadlines for accepting or turning down admission. The ACOMAS application asks you to certify that if you accept an offer of admission, that you will honor that commitment and either withdraw your other applications or send a notice of refusal to any other programs that have offered you admission. So I gather that is the expected behavior.
Kate
Absolutely, I agree 100%, Kate. Although, I did want to clarify that it can and does happen occasionally.
olderguy - that is correct for MD programs. you can only hold one acceptance after may 15 but you can remain on waitlists. if you get accepted off a waitlist, you can drop your current acceptance and pick up the new one, the point being that you are still only holding a single acceptance.
OK, so my next question in figuring out this financial aid stuff: I will have my tax return complete within the next 2 weeks or so, but my parents likely won’t file theirs until April. I know FAFSA and needaccess allow us to use estimated amounts by marking “will file.” However, what I’m reading is that schools will not make an official financial aid package available until these numbers have been updated with the filed tax return info. Does this mean that my file will just sit until this happens, thereby making useless the option to provide estimated figures? Or will the school provide a provisional package based on the estimates and then tweak it, if necessary, when the filed forms are provided? Or is this something I need to call each individual school to ask their specific policy? I won’t get admissions decisions from another 3 schools (2 of which are top choices right now - I think) until well after the suggested early deadlines for submission, so filling out these forms based on hopes of an acceptance is really very complicated. I appreciate any help!!!
Switz -
I think you probably need to call the schools and ask their individual policies. Some schools will make offers based on estimated data and then require formal documentation later, some may want to see official data first.
Don’t be surprised if the most of your financial aid “offers” are composed of mostly (or all) loans. Scholarships (esp significant ones) are not that easy to come by. But, you never know. I got accepted off the waitlist to the school I ended up going to. After I accepted the spot, I was notified that I had been selected for a very substantial scholarship.
Thanks for the info Emergency! I’ve decided to just forego the possibility of scholarship money. I was hoping to avoid working during med school, but if I work one day a month, that should make up for anything I might have gotten from a scholarship. It’s just an extra burden I was hoping to avoid. But at this point, it’s just not worth the emotional turmoil of continually begging my parents for the info. Something really needs to be done about the way fin aid is handled because it definitely puts people with unsupportive families at a disadvantage.
I totally understand. I chose to forgo scholarship money one year rather than ask my dad for he and his new wife’s (who I had never met) financial info. Fortunately, it didn’t affect my four year scholarship that I had already been awarded.
I’ve had many discussions with admin/financial aid types about the requirement for parental info for institutional scholarship money. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have a good way to replace that.
- olderguy Said:
Yes. That is correct.