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Applying for Financial Aid

FAFSA Form

The first and probably most important step is to fill out and submit the FAFSA form (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) since federal and state aid are based on the information reported in the FAFSA form. Using the information you provided in the FAFSA form, the federal goverment will determine your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is the amount that the federal government has determined that you can afford to fund yourself.

Student Aid Report

Once you have completed the FAFSA form, the federal government will send you a Student Aid Report (SAR) which will recap the information you provided in the FAFSA form and will list the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). You should receive this report within 3 to 4 weeks of submittal of the FAFSA form (or quicker if you submitted the form electronically). If you don't receive it within that time period, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

Award Letters

The schools that you indicated on your FAFSA form will also receive information from the Federal Student Aid Information Center. The schools will then create a financial aid award letter for you, which will provide you with all of the details of the financial aid that your being offered. You can accept or decline the various offers.

Federal Financial Aid

Your eligibility for federal financial aid will be based on the FAFSA form. Your school will notify you which federal aid programs you qualify for and for what amounts. The federal financial aid programs available to MBA students are Graduate Perkins Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans, and Graduate Stafford Loans.

State Financial Aid

Unfortunately, there is not much state financial aid available for MBA students. The main financial aid offered by states is in-state tuition at public universities.

College Financial Aid

Most colleges and universities have financial aid available to MBA students. Many of these aid programs are grants, fellowships, work study, and some loans. Since most of these are grants or fellowships, it is important to speak to the financial aid office at your college or university to find out what programs are available. Many will require that you complete the FAFSA, so make sure you have done that. In addition, many of these programs are not heavily promoted, so make sure you ask about what is availalbe. Most of these programs will have their own application forms in addition to the FAFSA, so get copies from your financial aid office and get the applications submitted as soon as possible.

Local Financial Aid

Many local businesses or organizations offer scholarships or grants to their community. For example, a local credit union or church might have a scholarship program available to members or people in the community. Although many of these programs might be for undergraduate studies, there are usually a small number of applicants and thus your odds of getting aid are quite good if you qualify. Contact local businesses and organizations in your area to find out if they have any financial aid programs and to get any application forms. Your college or university will most likely not know about local financial aid programs, so don't rely on just speaking to your school.