How can I afford graduate school?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the cost of graduate school. Rightly so… there’s no way to sugar coat the fact that grad school is expensive, especially at a private institution. While the Office of Graduate Admissions can’t reduce the tuition, we can certainly point you in the direction of resources that make it more affordable on the front and back ends.

For those of you in the early phase of your graduate school search, I encourage you to peruse our list of external scholarships for graduate applicants/students.
While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it is a comprehensive guide to external scholarships, grants and fellowships specifically for those interested in schools/careers in international affairs.

These external scholarships are of course in addition to Josef Korbel School scholarships which range from $10,000 to full tuition.

The thought of taking out $50,000 or more in loans to cover graduate school tuition is daunting to put it lightly. The thought of sleeping in your parent’s basement, inability to cover bills, exchanging your car for a bike and not indulging at your favorite restaurant every few weeks gives rise to sleepless, anxiety filled evenings when considering life after the six-month loan grace period.

There are two, fairly new federal programs that are particularly helpful to prospective and current graduate students interested in careers in international studies/affairs/relations: Income Based Repayment (IBR) and the Public Loan Forgiveness program.

Income Based Repayment
Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a repayment plan for the major types of federal student loans that caps your required monthly payment at an amount intended to be affordable based on your income and family size.

To qualify for Income-Based Repayment, the following:

• You must demonstrate partial financial hardship to qualify.
• Payments are 15% of your discretionary income. (Discretionary income equals your Adjusted Gross Income minus 150% of the Federal Poverty Rate).
• Payments are adjusted annually based on your Adjusted Gross Income and family size.
• Payments can be as low  as zero.
• If, after 25 years of payments, there is still a principal or interest balance on your loan, this remaining amount can be forgiven. For individuals who qualify for Public Service Loan. Forgiveness (see below), the forgiveness can occur after 10 years of payments.
• Use this IBR Loan Calculator to determine if you qualify for the IBR plan.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, you can qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your federal student loans after you have made 120 payments while employed full-time by certain public service employers. The 120 required payments need to be made under the Direct Loan (DL) Program (meaning you may need to consolidate your loans into the DL Program upon graduation if your current loans are borrowed through the bank-based FFEL program).

To qualify, you must make payments under one of the following repayment programs:

• Income Based Repayment.
• Income Contingent Repayment.
• Standard Repayment.

I hope this information is helpful as you consider your graduate school options. Be in touch if you have any questions, Nicole.Vilegi@du.edu.

Nicole
Nicole Vilegi-Sandage
Associate Director of Graduate Admissions
Josef Korbel School of International Studies

FAFSA Deadline for New Students

Happy first day of March!

The first of this month greets us with temperatures in the high 50s and the priority deadline for submitting the FAFSA. For those of you who have yet to complete this form, it is in your best interest to do it asap. In doing so, you will be considered for Stafford loans, Plus loans, Perkins loans, work study and any other federal funding available for graduate students with financial need (which is pretty much everyone). Keep in mind that, as a graduate student, you are considered independent so your parents financial situation is not taken into consideration. I believe this is the ONLY time when it’s great to have a $0 Estimated Family Contribution (EFC).

To begin the FAFSA, click here.
For more information about federal loan options, click here.
To check out external funding opportunities, click here.
To test your luck with the Colorado lottery, hey… you never know,  click here*

I’m sure you all are anxiously awaiting your admissions decision from the Josef Korbel School. If you completed your application by (or within 2-3 weeks from) the January 15th priority, you will be hearing from our office within a week. We will email decisions to the email address you provided on your application. If this address has changed, please contact our office so we can send it to the appropriate address. You can reach us at 303.871.2544 or via email: korbeladm@du.edu.

Good luck and be in touch if you have any questions.

Regards,
Nicole

Nicole Vilegi
Associate Director of Graduate Admissions
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Nicole.Vilegi@du.edu

* The Josef Korbel School does not support gambling of any kind.

A word about financial aid

Let me start out by saying, it’s been such a pleasure reading your applications! We love learning more about future Korbel students. We have applicants from Uzbekistan, Italy, Venezuela and India to name a few countries. Applicants representing Peking University, Boston University, Whittier College, Indiana University - Bloomington, Michigan State University and the United States Military Academy, for example. Not to mention applicants covering a wide variety of professional and academic backgrounds.

Just when you thought all the boxes have been checked on your graduate school to-do list, I am here to tell you that you are not quite done yet. The fun has only just begun…

I would like to take a moment to talk about  financing your graduate school education. Before you click the “X” in the top right of your screen, please read this now, rather than waiting until March-April when funding opportunities become much more limited.

The Josef Korbel School offers an array of scholarships to competitive applicants however,  the majority do not cover the full tuition. As such, the following will provide additional resources to help you afford your graduate school education.

For those of you who are not aware, the FAFSA submission priority deadline for incoming  students (U.S. citizens)  is March 1st. Regardless of what graduate school you plan on attending, it is recommended that you submit your application sooner than later to be considered for need based funding. Also, regardless of your parent’s income, you will need to fill out the FAFSA unless you are independently wealthy. To clarify (because yes, this question has come up), as a graduate student, you are considered an independent and therefore your filing is based on your income (or lack thereof). To start filing your FAFSA, click here.

In filing the FAFSA, applicants will also be considered for the following need based funding:

Stafford loans - Generally, graduate students will receive the maximum Stafford loan allocation of $20,500 each academic year. This amount includes a $12,000 unsubsidized loan and a $8,500 subsidized loan. The difference is that the former accrues interest while you are enrolled in school.

Perkins loans - Graduate students can receive up to $3,000 per year at a subsidized interest rate (5%) while enrolled in school.

Work study - Opportunities to work on and off campus are available through the Federal work study program.  I believe (don’t quote me) the box to check on the FAFSA is #26 to express interest in being considered for such funding. If you don’t express interest, you will not be considered for work study, regardless of your unmet financial need. Most graduate students receive a $5,000 award which will paid through bi-weekly paychecks. That is of course, after you interview and get a job.

The next line of loan defense is a PLUS loan. This will cover the balance remaining of the total cost of attendance.

For more information about the University of Denver’s (DU) cost of attendance, Stafford loans, Perkins loans and Plus loans, visit DU’s Office of Financial Aid website.

The final line of loan defense is a private loan. These loans generally have a higher interest rate than PLUS loans so be sure to compare before selecting this option. For a list of private lenders, click here.

Often times, we have applicants calling/emailing us about external scholarship/grant suggestions. Unfortunately, more often than not, these queries come in April, May…August at which time the deadlines have long passed. Now that you are in application mode, dust off your to do list and start gathering documents for external scholarships. We have an extensive list of graduate funding opportunities on the Korbel website. We also have a list of scholarships specifically for International students which you can find by clicking here. Determine which ones you qualify for, when the deadlines are and get your applications in!

I hope this information is helpful. Be in touch if you have any questions.

Regards,
Nicole

Nicole Vilegi
Associate Director of Graduate Admissions
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Nicole.Vilegi@du.edu