Graduate Financial Aid

This past July 1st, 2006 - the US Dep’t of Education created a new loan geared towards students continuing on after undergraduate school. The graduate Plus loan is the second non-need based federal student loan (the parent plus loan was the first). Since the demand for graduate students has increased in the past 10 years, so has the cost for tuition. Typically, a stafford loan for grad school would not come close to covering tuition and living expenses, so now the student can apply for the Graduate Plus loan to cover the difference. The approval process for the loan is not as stringent as the parent plus loan approval. As long as the applicant does not have any delinquent accounts on their credit history they are usually approved for this loan. If you have Federal loans from undergraduate school as well, they can all be rolled together once you are finished with school, since they all share the same Federal status. This will be so helpful once you finally do finish school to have just one payment. From my experience, with any loan you apply for, it is best to do your research, and pick a loan that will suffice your needs.