Picture of a building at Brandeis University with white text that says, "Brandeis University: Financing Your Education."
Thomas Screnci speaks: Excellent. So once again, thank you for joining this session on financial aid, financing education here with Brandeis University. This session is specific for Brandeis Online for our master's degrees and certificates, which are 100% online. I am one of your presenters today. I'm Thomas Screnci. I'm the associate director of admissions and enrollment with Brandeis Online. Joining me is Linna with the Financial Aid team here the student financial services, rather team. I'll let her introduce herself and then let her jump right into her side of the presentation, and then I will wrap us up before we jump into Q&A. So, Lena, off to you.
Linna Ferreira speaks: Hi, everyone! I'm Linna Ferreira. I'm the associate director of financial aid here at Brandeis I work with both undergrad and graduate students, and I've been here for almost 10 years now. So any questions feel free to contact me.
Slide switches to say "Program Overview."
Linna Ferreira: So just to start off, this presentation is about financing your education for the program overview. We're going to go over a brief overview of loans, federal and private loans, and also budgeting your education, covering for costs of attendance, such as like tuition and fees, and then living expenses. And then Thomas will go over about tuition remission.
Slide switches to say "Loans Overview." Loans listed include federal loans (Stafford and Graduate Plus) and private student loans.
Linna Ferreira: So for a loan loans overview. There are 2 types of loan, Federal and private loans. Federal loans are Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and the Graduate Plus Loan.
Slide switches to say "Federal Student Loans."
Linna speaks: For Federal student loans. The 1st thing to note is that Federal aid is only available for students who are enrolled in at least half time in a master degree program. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover certificate programs at Brandeis.
Like I said earlier, there's 2 types of federal loans, unsubsidized Staffer loan and graduate plus loan, the Staffard loan. You can complete this at FAFSA at studentaid.gov. And it stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you did this before in your undergrad, it's the same application that you have to complete as a graduate student. And it's basically you complete the application to ask for your basic information and then your prior year taxes.
This is the interest rate for this specific loan. It's currently at 8.8%. It changes every year in July, and the maximum amount annually is $20,500 with the aggregate at $138,500. So that's the Max you can borrow in a lifetime.
The next type of Federal loan is a direct Graduate Plus Loan, and this is similar to the Staffard loan. The only big difference is that the interest rate and the origination fee is higher, and this is credit based. So you'll get a credit inquiry on your credit report when you apply. So it's similar to applying for like a credit card or a personal loan where there's a credit inquiry. But with this loan for the plus loan, you can borrow all the way up to the cost of tenants minus any aid received, so there's no maximum amount as long as it fits within the cost of attendance.
Slide switches to say "Private Student Loans."
Linna Ferreira: The other type of loan is private student loans. If you're considering taking a private loan, I would suggest using elmselect.com. It gives a comparison tool that shows the different types of loans that you can borrow and the interest rate. It's mainly so once you go and select elmselect.com just scroll down to Brandeis University, and you can see all the different types of loan our students and families borrowed in the past, and it does a comparison. And once you pick the loan that best meets your need in terms of like the interest rate and the repayment, then you'll have to apply directly to that that loan, and it's a great tool to use if you're trying to figure out which one best meets your need.
And for those who are in the certificate program, or taking just a single course, you are eligible for private loans, so just double check each private loan to see the eligibility, and most of them will cover your single course or your certificate program.
Slide switches to say "Budget."
Linna Ferreira: The next step is budgeting. This is a huge step when you're concerning like, how to finance your education only because when it comes to your education, it may take about one year, or even longer. So you'll have to calculate a year, basic or just how long you plan to complete your program. So 1st calculate your living expenses to have a better understanding of what your cost of attendance is. So write down like how much it's going to cost you for rent, utility, food, and any personal expenses. Federal aid and private loans can cover these expenses while you're in school, and it can even cover even further, if you have, like, an emergency that can be included as well like medical emergency that can be included in your federal or private loans. So I would say to just sit down and look at your budget to see how much the tuition is going to cost you. If you're currently working, how much you're going to have to use towards your tuition costs, or like how much you need for your living expenses. And then you can always meet with me if you're having like struggles with deciding which loan to take out, or how much loans you need to cover for your education.
Slide switches to say "Tuition Remission"
Thomas Screnci: So when it comes to tuition remission. This is something that is done privately. What I mean is, it's not through through Brandeis University, or any type of loan agency.
A lot of employers will offer tuition, remission, tuition, discounts, or reimbursements. We have many students who come to us who are surprised of their opportunities or haven't explored them yet, and employers will cover 50% or more of their education costs so definitely look into what your employer might offer. So speaking with your HR Representative is a great place to start. If you're a Brandis employee, HR And benefits offices are is a great place to start to see what that process is like and amounts can vary, of course, based on what type of program you're in. Of course, relation to your job might change. What type of award they're willing to give format how long you've been with the company as well, and maybe yearly limits, too.
One thing to also know which is not included here is Brandeis Online, Brandeis University offers a payment plan opportunity. So if you wanted to pay out of pocket instead, we have a monthly payment plan option where you pay your tuition over monthly periods.
Brandeis Online academic periods are 8 weeks long or 2 or 2 months long. So you'd be paying your tuition for your Brandeis Online courses in 2 monthly installments, 2 monthly bills, basically.
Slide switches to say "Brandeis Online Tuition."
Thomas Screnci: Lastly, this is the breakdown of our costs for our programs. It is important to note that you are never paying for these programs fully ahead of time. So if you're doing a master's degree or a certificate. You do not owe the the total costs upfront. You are paying per course you are actively registered in. So one semester you pay for you register for one course, and the next you register for 2. Your bill due would change because you registered for one more course the second session. So an important thing to factor into as you're factoring in affordability, no cost and payments for yourself is how many courses you plan to do at a time, and what type of loan tuition, remission options you might be afforded through a through employers, through things like that. So that covers our plan session here.
Slide switches to say "Thank You!"
Thomas Screnci: So for you watching this recording, thank you for for attending. Thank you for watching this session. You can reach out to student financial services through email, as you see, listed here. And my name is Thomas Screnci. Again, with Brandeis on the admissions team. You can find my information as well on our website. So please feel free to reach out to us. Our general inbox at Brandeis Online is rather simple. It is online@brandeis.edu. So for any questions about admissions, financial aid, general questions. Please feel free to ask me or email student financial services directly. So I'm going to stop the recorded part of this session here, so thank you for attending.