Graduate Students
Applying for Aid as a Graduate Student
Admission as a graduate student at Michigan State University requires your application to be reviewed at several levels within the university including the academic department and Office of Admissions. Only after the process is fully completed will you receive a graduate level budget and appropriate aid.
Current Undergraduate Students Admitted Into Graduate Program
If you are currently an MSU undergraduate, your graduate status will not be active until your undergraduate degree is conferred by the Registrar. For example this will happen in May for Spring Semester graduates, and in August for Summer Semester graduates. You may be awarded undergraduate aid since our financial aid system recognizes the student’s academic level as of the day the aid is processed.
Students Returning to MSU for a Graduate Program
If you have attended MSU in the past as an undergraduate, but graduated elsewhere, you will be processed as an undergraduate until you are officially admitted by your academic department, MSU Office of Admissions, and your information is updated in our Student Information System by the Office of Admissions.
New MSU Graduate Students
If you are new to MSU as a prospective graduate student, your aid will be processed at the graduate level.
Resources
Sources of assistance
Federal and MSU need-based aid
Graduate students who are US Citizens or Permanent Residents may apply for federal loans by filing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). See Types of Aid for programs available as well as the Department of Education brochure “Financial Aid for Graduate or Professional Students”.
Sample Budgets and Financial Aid Packages
The financial aid budgets and packages below should be used as a blueprint for planning available funds for your graduate studies based on 2019-2020 information:
2021-2022 Sample Graduate Budget
| Michigan Student |
Out-of-State Student |
|
|---|---|---|
| Tuition* | $14,710 | $29,904 |
| Fees & Taxes* | $144 | $144 |
| Room & Board | $12,278 | $12,278 |
| Books & Supplies | $1,640 | $1,640 |
| Personal & Misc | $2,664 | $2,664 |
| $476 | $1,286 | |
| Total Budget | $35,548 | $47,916 |
Indirect costs, such as housing and personal expenses, are based on student choice and may vary from student to student although the housing amount used in the budget examples above is based on MSU published rates.
In-State Graduate Student
| Type of Aid | Amount Offered |
|---|---|
| Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan | $20,500 |
| Graduate PLUS Loan Recommendation | $15,084 |
| Total | $35,584 |
Out-of-State Graduate Student
| Type of Aid | Amount Offered |
|---|---|
| Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan | $20,500 |
| Graduate PLUS Loan Recommendation | $27,416 |
| Total | $47,916 |
Most federal programs require enrollment at half time or more as shown in the Enrollment Chart. Some graduate students have special requirements, however, which are discussed below.
Aid such as Pell Grant, MSU Assistance Grant and Spartan Advantage are not available to graduate students. If you are offered these initially your financial aid package will change significantly once your graduate admissions information is updated from undergraduate to graduate in the university student information system which may be several weeks after you are admitted into a graduate program.
Fellowships
Fellowships are aid programs that do not have to be repaid. They are based on merit criteria, such as grades or program of study, not financial need. Michigan State University funds many fellowships including awards for conference attendance and internships as well as normal cost of attendance. The Office of Financial Aid does not award fellowships, so contact your department and/or college for information. Fellowships can reduce the amount of Grad PLUS or Direct Loan offered.
Assistantships
Assistantships are employment awards granted by individual departments or by administrative offices such as Residence Life. The work can be either as a teaching assistant (TA), research assistant (RA), or in a "teaching exclusion" (TE) position. More than 3000 graduate students hold assistantships at MSU. You can find more information at https://hr.msu.edu/employment/graduate-assistants/faqs.html.
To qualify, you must be in a graduate degree program and make satisfactory academic progress. A 3.0 grade point average is the minimum requirement, though it is higher in some departments or colleges.
Benefits include a stipend (bi-weekly paycheck), tuition waiver of 9 credits per semester (Fall and Spring) and 5 for Summer, and health insurance.
If you received an award package as a regular grad student prior to receiving an assistantship, your package may be reduced. MSU is required to follow federal rules in the awarding of aid and MUST reduce certain types of aid - generally loans - if you originally had a regular graduate budget and now have a graduate assistantship.
For example, an assistantship includes a waiver of tuition, but the financial aid budget includes tuition. Therefore we would add a placeholder to your financial aid package which represents the waived tuition, and we would reduce your loans by the same amount. You may review the Institutional Awards Policy for further information.
We may NOT substitute a tuition-specific award, such as Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver, for the tuition waiver you receive as a graduate student. The latter is an employment benefit based upon labor rules and regulations which financial aid cannot override. You may receive aid for the cost of any credits you take over & above the waiver.
If you have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, then you should be aware that receipt of a fellowship, scholarship or assistantship may reduce your eligibility for federal student loans. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid at ofagrad@msu.edu if you have questions.
Special status
Not all graduate student programs are created equal. If you fall into one of these special categories, you may be ineligible for aid or have your aid reduced:
Students who are provisionally admitted or dual enrolled may be ineligible or have limited eligibility.
Doctoral students who have completed their comprehensive exams and have been coded by their department as being in the dissertation phase of their program (code DD in the Student Information System) will have their financial aid budgets adjusted to ACTUAL tuition costs as opposed to AVERAGE tuition costs. This may result in reduced financial aid eligibility.
Students who exceed the published timeframe to earn a degree will be denied further aid pending a successful appeal. Most Master’s programs must be completed within five calendar years of matriculation. Doctoral degrees, including dissertation, are limited to eight calendar years. You will see a Financial Aid Warning hold placed on your account in your final term of eligibility, and a Financial Aid Denial will be placed for the next term of enrollment. More information on the appeal process is found on the Satisfactory Academic Progress web page.
Questions
If you have questions about graduate student aid please email ofagrad@msu.edu for assistance.
