You are eligible for financial aid by filing the FAFSA. As a graduate student the only financial aid is loans.

You will need your past tax return information for two years from when you are filing the FAFSA. 

Yes, the FAFSA needs to be completed each academic year if you are using federal loans.

No, you do not need your parents’ financial information for the FAFSA as a graduate student.

The FAFSA for the following academic year becomes available on Oct. 1 each year. You can file it at any time. 

We can process loans up to the cost of attendance. As a graduate student you are eligible to borrow up to $20,500 of the graduate unsubsidized loan per academic year once your FAFSA has been filed. We can also process graduate PLUS loans up to the cost of attendance.

No, you can defer making loan payments until 6 months after you have graduated graduate school.

Six credit hours per semester is considered full time as a graduate student.

At least 6 credits to remain full time so that we can process federal loans for you. Many students are able to take 3 credits in session I and 3 credits in session II of the semester. That way you are only taking one course at a time. 

As a graduate student, the federal loans that are available to you are the Graduate Unsubsidized Loan and the Graduate PLUS loan. 

SBU grants, scholarships or discounts maybe available for select graduate programs. Please see our Scholarships and Aid page for up to date information on this. Students are also encouraged to look into external resources that may be available to them, including but not limited to employer benefits, tuition reimbursement, external scholarships, etc.