Financial Aid Basics
Financial aid is any resource that is available to assist you with paying for your cost of attendance. Financial aid includes resources awarded by St. Thomas, a private scholarship organization, a governmental agency or your employer (tuition reimbursement). Financial aid also includes student loans provided by the federal government or private lenders.
Earnings from work (including graduate assistantships) are not generally considered financial aid, unless the source of funds is a need-based program such as Federal or State Work Study, or if the award is somehow based on financial need.
Financial aid is awarded based on the average costs for a student attending specific graduate programs and the financial aid types for which an individual student is eligible. Some financial aid awards are determined by the academic departments and reported to the Graduate Financial Aid Office. In no case can the total dollar amount of all combined financial aid awards exceed the total cost of attendance budget for the program as determined by the Graduate Financial Aid Office.
Federal Direct Loans (Degree seeking students only): Federal Direct Loans are the primary source of financing for graduate students seeking a degree. These are fixed interest rate loans with repayment that begin six months after you are no longer enrolled half time. While your credit history is not a factor in determining eligibility for this loan, you must not be in default on a prior federal loan.
Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan (Degree seeking students only): This federal loan is available to students that have no adverse credit. Repayment begins six months after you are no longer enrolled half time.
Private Educational Loans: Repayment periods begin six to nine months following graduation from your program. Eligibility for these loans is based on your credit history.
Grants (Degree seeking students only): The Graduate Access Grant ($300-$3000) is available to students seeking a degree that demonstrate financial need and complete the Graduate Diversity Application and FAFSA. Graduate students are not eligible for Pell Grants, Minnesota State Grants or most other types of grant funds awarded to undergraduate students.
Department Scholarships & Grants: Most graduate departments have scholarships and grants to award to students. Contact your academic department for more information.
Federal Work Study (Degree seeking students only): Federal Work Study is available on a student request basis. If you are interested in Federal Work Study, you are encouraged to contact a graduate financial aid counselor to discuss your options.
Master, Law, Doctoral Seeking Students:
- $20,500 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Licensure Students enrolled through the School of Education:
- $7,500 Federal Direct Loan for dependent students (up to $5,500 subsidized loan if demonstrate financial need)
- $12,500 Federal Direct Loan for independent students (up to $5,500 subsidized loan if demonstrate financial need)
*The academic year is determined by the financial aid office according to federal aid regulations.
"Financial need" is a calculated value. It is determined by subtracting the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is an index number determined from the FAFSA, from the cost of attendance budget. If the EFC is equal to or larger than the cost of attendance, then the student is said to have "no financial need" and is not eligible for need-based sources of financial aid.
All students regardless of financial need are eligible for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and can apply for Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans, Private Educational Loans and UST student employment opportunities.
The cost of attendance budget is determined by calculating the average number of credits students take in each program. In some cases where there are full-time and part-time tracks, we calculate an average full-time course load and part-time course load. We then multiply the average course load for the appropriate student group by the per credit tuition rate for that program. To this average tuition, we add average required fees and allowances for books, housing, supplies, meals, transportation and personal expenses. The sum of all these averages is the total cost of attendance budget for the program.