Getting financial aid for graduate school can be a trying process. However, there are plenty of loans out there available to graduate students, as well as scholarships, so don’t let the process itself scare you away from applying. The three main types of financial aid for graduate students are focused on law, medical and business schools. There are specific resources for each that you should look into. I will list a few here:
Law School
- Law students are eligible for Federal Stafford Loans
- The Access Group is a non-profit organization founded by law schools themselves, and it is the largest private loan provider in the law society. It offers the Law Access Loan and the Bar Exam Loan on top of general federal loans.
- Nellie Mae (the largest nonprofit source of education loans) offers the LawEXCEL Education Loan Program
- Sallie Mae (the largest company that buys student loans from lenders) is affiliated with several providers (ex: Norwest Bank) that offer private loan programs, such as the LAWLOANS program.
Medical School
- Medical students are eligible for Federal Stafford and PLUS loans
- Access Group offers Medical, Dental and Health Access loans
- Graduate Leverage offers programs for federal and private loans, including internship, residency and relocation programs, to support medical students in grad school and after graduation
- MEDFUNDS offers HEAL loans as well as others for graduate students along with undergrads
- Nellie Mae offers the MedDent-EXCEL Education Loan
- TERI offers the Professional Education Loan Program for specific types of medicinal study
- Other than what is offered by the schools themselves, scholarships are often hard to obtain for med students. Organizations like the National Health Service Corps and the National Institutes of Health are two noteworthy scholarship programs that may offer some opportunities.
Business School
- Business grad students are eligible for Federal Stafford and PLUS loans
- The Access Group offers the Business Access Loan
- Nellie Mae offers the MBA-EXCEL loan
- Sallie Mae offers the MBALOANS plan
- Citi Student Loans offers CitiAssist Graduate loans
- The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management also annually offers full-time MBA fellowships to minority US citizens for graduate study leading to a Business MBA.
