Financial Aid Overview: Doctoral Program

Two types of federal financial aid are available to Doctoral  students.

• Stafford Unsubsidized* Loans through the Federal Direct Loan Program
• Federal Graduate PLUS loans

Loan Fees

• For Graduate/Professional students, the Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan has a 1.057%*
  federal origination fee and fixed interest rate of 6.54%*.
• The Grad PLUS loan has a federal loan origination fee of 4.228%* and fixed interest rate of
  7.54%*.
• The amount of these fees will be deducted proportionately from each disbursement.

The Department of Education provides access to the Direct Loan Program website to students which provides informative publications, tools to help manage Direct Loans  packages, and information for completing entrance and exit counseling. We encourage all students to take advantage of these valuable online resources at https://studentaid.gov/

DAOM Program Financial Aid Amounts:

• Doctoral students are eligible for a maximum of $20,500 every 3 quarters (9 months) in Stafford Unsubsidized Loans.

• • Doctoral students are eligible for a maximum of $44,148 every 3 quarters (9 months) with the inclusion of Graduate PLUS Loans, or through the sole use of Graduate PLUS Loans.

• • The maximum aggregate loan limit for all outstanding educational loans is $138,500. If a student reaches their maximum aggregate loan limit, Stafford Unsubsidized Loans will no longer be available. Graduate PLUS Loans will remain available, based on good credit standing

The Financial Aid Office can be reached at 310-453-8300 x123

* Beginning July 1, 2012, the Federal Direct Loan Program discontinued the award of subsidized loans for graduate students. This is a new federal regulation that applies to all institutions that administer federal title IV aid. Total loan amounts are not affected by this change.