Although we know that the so-called Budget Control Act will hit us with massive cuts, everyone's been left in a game of 20 Questions trying to figure out just where the slicing and dicing will occur. Except for one, oddly specific directive. If you -- or your children -- are about to head off to become a doctor, lawyer, or get any sort of graduate degree, Congress has already delivered the bad news: Starting next summer, you'll pay a lot more to go.
Under the new deal, the government will no longer subsidize the popular federal student loan, the Stafford, for graduate school. As a result, a typical borrower could pay an additional $7,000 in interest on federal student loan debt, estimates Mark Kantrowitz, who runs the invaluable student aid website FinAid.org.
Young people today have graduated into the worst economy since their grandparents (and in some cases, great grandparents) were their age. They have trouble finding jobs, and on top of that, they're dealing with enormous debt from undergraduate student loans. It's no wonder a record number of grads are moving back home with their parents, just to get by.
Not surprisingly, many have decided to play the grad-school card. More than one in four college graduates -- or about 27 percent -- opted for graduate school rather than face the dismal employment market, according to a survey of 2010 grads by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The unemployment statistics support this logic, as more education correlates with high employment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Despite this reality, Congress felt it the right time to hit students where it hurts the most: their wallets. Lest you think that these will be the only cuts to the academic world, think again. By November 23, lawmakers will have to trim $2 trillion from the budget, and other financial aid programs and grants are likely to land on the chopping block. Now, more than ever before, it's time to be vigilant about financing your education.
Here's how to save money on grad school:
- Be sure you need to go. Could you gain the experience by working at a different company? Volunteering? Taking professional development courses? Ask yourself: Am I completely sold on this career path, or would it be smarter to test the waters with an internship? Obviously, if your aim is to become a dentist, you need grad school, but if you're dreaming of writing the Great American Novel, it might not be necessary.
- Know what you'll pay when you graduate. You wouldn't buy a microwave without knowing exactly what it would cost you, so why would you do it for a graduate degree? Before choosing a school, figure out what your monthly student loan bills would be when you graduate, and how affordable that would be in your future job. The calculators at FinAid.org are terrific for helping you figure out how much school will cost, and the website Glassdoor.com can help you estimate what you'll earn. You have to make some educated guesses, but you can ballpark it.
- Be realistic about your future job market. A report released this summer by McKinsey & Company says that too few people are getting the skills in school that will actually help them land jobs. They predict a greater demand for nutritionists, welders, and engineers. They also expect to see more openings in some healthcare positions and in jobs requiring computer specialties. The takeaway: Be realistic about your prospects, and acquire skills that are in demand.
- Ask Uncle Sam. If you need help paying for grad school, federal loans are still cheaper than private loans, explains Kantrowitz. Start by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at fafsa.ed.gov, the federal government's aid application. This will help you qualify for loans like Staffords, which are guaranteed by the government and currently fixed at 6.8 percent. You're allowed to borrow a total of $138,500 in Stafford loans (that includes undergrad debt). If you need more financial aid, consider applying for a Grad PLUS loan, which can help you cover the rest of your school costs at a fixed rate of 7.9 percent. Start with Staffords and then turn to Grad PLUS loans if you need to make up the difference.
- Apply now for a subsidized loan. Unfortunately, the new debt deal eliminates subsidized loans for grad students starting July 2012, meaning that grad students will be on the hook for paying interest that accrues on their loans while they're enrolled. So anyone who can qualify for a subsidized Stafford loan in 2011-2012 should take the maximum amount, explains Kalman Chany, author of Paying for College Without Going Broke. Get a subsidized Stafford loan now, while they're still available, and reserve other resources for later use, if you can. Keep in mind, you have until the end of your school's academic year to file a 2011-2012 FAFSA.
- Whatever you do, avoid private loans. Their interest rates are generally not capped, so they can turn very expensive, very quickly. And given that the debt deal is likely to affect interest rates, you can plan on private loans getting more expensive. Their interest rates can go into the double digits, sometimes as high as 20 percent. Worse, they don't have the same repayment rules as federal loans, which often allow you to postpone or defer payment if you get into financial trouble down the road.
- Apply early and play the numbers game. You'll increase the chances of being offered a financial aid package if you cast a wide net. I know plenty of people who received no aid from several schools and then landed a very generous (and unexpected) package from just one. And apply early; many schools dole out scholarships and grants on a rolling basis, so if your application is evaluated later, some of the money could be gone.
- Find free money. Even if the grants seem small compared to the price tag of your degree, they can add up. For example, if you're a woman studying in New York State, you're probably eligible for the $1,000 Grace LeGendre Fellowship, which is awarded to several female graduate students every year. If you're studying education, the James Madison Fellowship awards up to $24,000 to one person in every state. (Residents of the unincorporated territories and the District of Columbia are also eligible.) A great resource to help you find grants and scholarships is the website Fastweb.com.
- Keep working while you're in school. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 70 percent of MBA students, and about 80 percent of those studying education, enrolled in part-time programs while continuing to work. And many of them received financial assistance from their employers. If you are currently employed, talk to human resources to see what type of courses, if any, are covered. If you can handle the homework while holding down a job, that could be better than going to school full-time and then having to job search from scratch. Also, you might be able to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit to offset the cost of your tuition, advises Kalman Chany.
- Take your tax breaks. The government offers students and graduates various tax breaks. For example, you may be able to deduct the interest payments on your loans, up to $2,500 a year. (Money that goes toward paying the principal, alas, is not tax deductible.) Check out irs.gov for more information.
- Stay away from your IRA. If you have an IRA, the government allows you to make early withdrawals from it to pay for tuition, fees, and supplies. If you're thinking about doing this, or borrowing from your 401(k), don't. Avoid using these precious retirement funds for grad school.
- Know your repayment options. If you're unemployed, still in school, or experiencing economic hardship, you can apply for deferment (that's when the lender allows you to postpone repayment and interest) or forbearance (when the lender allows you to postpone or reduce payments, but interest continues to accrue) on your federal loan payments for up to three years. See FinAid.org for more details. Under Income-Based Repayment (IBR), you pay no more than a set percentage of your income. The lower your salary, the less you pay each month. See IBRinfo.org for more information.
- Pick careers that will get your debt forgiven. If you teach, work in the public service, or are employed in the healthcare field, there is a host of programs that will erase your debt. The National Health Service Corps offers licensed clinical social workers $60,000 in loan repayments in exchange for two years working in an underserved, high-need geographic area. Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, people working full-time in public service careers (such as law enforcement, teaching, or the military) can get their remaining debt canceled after 10 years of employment. For more information, go to studentloanborrowerassistance.org; type "forgiveness" in the search bar.
And finally, let your congressperson know that you don't want to see federal funding for education cut one more penny. Call, email, tweet, write it in the sky if you have to: Preserve the money to help every American get a better education.
Beth Kobliner is a personal finance commentator and journalist, the author of the New York Times bestseller "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties," and a member of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. Visit her at bethkobliner.com, follow her on Twitter, and fan her on Facebook.
The average undergrads walk out of college with well over $25,000 in predatory student loans. A third or more will default, and see their debt double, triple, or more with penalties and fees. Last I heard, the insiders were to get Congress to TRIPLE the federal loan limit, from $32,000 to $100,000 (undergrad). This is the first order, dominant variable that we should be worried about. The Huffington Post editorial folks desperately need to stop taking their cues on coverage from beltway insiders, and academic elitists...I believe the progressive movement still includes middle and lower class economic issues in its platform (although I could be wrong). If shelter dogs haven't yet bumped us off the to-do list, I'd hope HUFFPO would take this item seriously.
Think about why Congress raised the federal loan limit all these years...In short, it is because no one told them that students were borrowing too much, and that the default rate was abysmally high. Who should have told them? The Department of Education (and the student advocacy groups).
Now, ask why the Department of Ed didn't sound a warning years ago both to Congress, and to the public, who would have appreciated being told that those "safe" loans they were signing for had a better than 1 in 4 chance of blowing up?
The answer to this question is where the news is.
Let's put things in perspective here. We are talking about the govt deciding not to pay the interest accrued while one is Grad school, not that it is raising the interest rates, or slashing the amount to be borrowed, or simply doing away with the loans. Like the 18 yr old teen that starts paying his or her parent rent, let us Grad students pick up some slack and free some funds for the more deserving.
Most of us will pay more for the house we live in than the amount we might accrue as student loans. I want to believe no one here will say the house is the better investment. In most cases, Graduating college increases one's chances of earning higher income, so making him or her pick up the slack on the interest side is a fair bargain.
Finally, the unsubsidized loans are still beneficial. It will still have a low interest rate that will be fixed unlike the adjustable rates from banks. A fair sized refund can also be generated from the loan and put into savings or used in paying present bills. Let's not cry wolf here, it's not as bad as being touted.
You can get a sense of the misery it causes from blogs like "100 reasons NOT to go to grad school": http://100rsns.blogspot.com/
It is devastating to find yourself in debt for a degree that proves to be of no use on the job market, even if you are "passionate" --a word used far too often in the context of graduate education-- about your area of study. Grad school involves much higher costs than most people realize.
Vote for democrats. Vote for Republicans. It doesn't matter. The dems only care about the unbelievably poor, and the reps only care about the unbelievably rich. I straight-up see no benefit to either party at this point.
But I agree that the political class isn't wild about the citizens getting educations. I'm wondering if Congress chose to stop paying the interest on ALL federal loans. I could understand this policy if Congress determined that, for example, we have more english Ph.Ds than the government is willing to fund. But I disagree if it discourages someone from going to engineering or medical graduate school.
First,capitalization doesn't make one's argumets more cogent.Secondly,too many people are what Gingrich called the 'semi educated '.They've gone through a field where intellectaul rigor is absent,and what ever their learning,others don't value it.What I have to exchange for money is my services.The wolrld little needs nor will long remember another Liberal Arts student living in their parents' basement.
Something that may help you with life is to repeat this mantra each morning: "Reality-what a concept."