Is it true that financial aid in most graduate schools consists of student loans?

If you are attending a US university, the answer is yes. In most cases the majority of financial aid provided to graduate students will come in the form of loans. There are a couple of reasons for this–(1) the federal government and most state governments limit grant funding to those students with the least ability to pay (undergrads–once you’ve got the degree you have the option to work); and (2) even if the parameters for the grant funding don’t restrict the awarding process, there’s only so much grant money to go around and undergrads typically have the highest priority in funding. Such is life.

Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any grant funding or other aid at all; its just that its limited (statistically proven through studies done by U.S. Department of Ed. and other agencies). At most colleges and universities, graduate assitantships/fellowships are available to help out with costs; and your graduate school/department may actually have information on scholarship programs that offer funds for graduate students. So, don’t lose hope. You’re just going to have to do a bit more work to obtain funding other than loans–which you KNOW you’ll have access to.

Best of luck!

As far as receiving federal aid goes, yes. Federal loans for graduate students consist of Stafford loans (Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized), and the new GradPLUS loan that was introduced in the 0607 school year.

You will definitely want to talk with your financial aid office and/or graduate office to see what kind of assistanceships you may be eligible for (Graduate Research Assistant or Graduate Teaching Assistant). In addition at many schools individual departments have scholarships/grants available for graduate students.

Good luck!

I would go speak to the FAO in the financial aid office. It’s nice to try to get an idea but you don’t want your opinion to get tainted by receiving “wrong” answers on Yahoo. Don’t go in with any “pre-conceived notions” on what you “should get”, be courteous to the staff, show up on time, and they will bend over backwards to help you.

At most schools there are graduate assistantships. Those give you a full tuition and a monthly stipend.