Sallie Mae Offers Tips on Financing Graduate School15 July 2006
A college education is an investment that yields a lifetime of financial returns. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, college graduates earn an average of about $2.5 million, or about $1 million more over their working lives than high school graduates. For college graduates who go on to earn advanced degrees, the earnings premium increases to about $1.5 million.
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Depending on a student's field of study, there are a variety of financial aid programs available to help pay for graduate school. Many lenders, including Sallie Mae, also offer various graduate private loan programs for students attending a graduate business, law, or medical school. Depending on the lender, borrowers may be eligible for select repayment benefits for making on-time payments or setting up automatic debit.
Typically, federal loans are the least expensive way for graduate students to borrow. Other forms of financial support can include working as a teaching or research assistant, participating in federal work-study programs (which are awarded based solely on financial need) and securing fellowships and grants. Several of these options, such as working as a teaching or research assistant, are awarded based on the student's academic merit and may include a stipend, which does not have to be repaid.
Beginning this academic year, graduate students who are enrolled at least half time will be able to borrow Federal PLUS Loans on their own behalf thanks to recent legislation, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. As with the parent- focused PLUS Loan program, there is no aggregate loan limit for a Grad PLUS Loan, and students are allowed to borrow each year the cost of attendance less any financial aid received.
Under the Graduate PLUS Loan program offered by Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of education funding, graduate and professional students are eligible even if they have no credit history; additional benefits in the form of interest rate reductions and loan balance credits also may apply. For medical students, Sallie Mae offers a specialized MEDLOANs Grad Loans PLUS program.
Other funding avenues for graduate students to explore are tuition- reimbursement programs. Some firms, large and small, may incorporate such plans as part of their benefits package. Usually these plans cover expenses for tuition and books and may require that the employee/student's current job position be enhanced as a result of taking graduate-level classes.
"A graduate degree is something that will pay off handsomely in the long run," says Michael Katz, president of graduate and professional programs for Sallie Mae. "By continuing their higher education, individuals are doing all that more to improve their quality of life, personally and professionally."
To learn more about financing a graduate school education, visit http://www.salliemae.com/gradplus/index.html.
Source: prnewswire
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