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Scholarships and Financial Aid

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The Graduate School currently offers Institutional Aid, Federal Student Loans under the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans), as well as assistantships and an extended payment plan. Inquiries may be directed to the Director of Financial Aid, Ms. Stephanie Woolbert, by telephone 617-277-3915 x19 or email financialaid@bgsp.edu.

Students are required to make either a complete loan application or a tuition payment in order to be admitted to class. Students with an incomplete application for financial aid are expected to make payments in keeping with the Extended Payment Plan in order to remain in good financial standing. Students who are not in good financial standing are not permitted to attend class until the situation is rectified. Please note any absences may be counted as unexcused absences by the instructors.

Types of Aid

Institutional Aid

The Graduate School offers institutional financial support to students who meet certain eligibility criteria. Below are descriptions of the types of financial support offered, and the eligibility requirements:

Career Advancement Scholarship

The Career Advancement Scholarship provides a 20% discount on course tuition to selected graduate students entering the M.A. program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Eligible applicants have completed their Bachelor’s degree and have been employed at the Bachelor’s level in a clinical human service agency (such as a hospital, residential facility, or in-home intervention program) for at least one year at the time of first application to BGSP. Once awarded, this scholarship is renewable each semester, as long as the student maintains good academic standing. Open to students at the Boston and New Jersey campuses. A limited number of Career Advancement Scholarships are available each year. Interested applicants must apply by December 15th for consideration in the Spring 2024 semester, and by July 15th for Fall 2024.

Click here for the Career Advancement Scholarship Application. For the total cost of attendance, click here. Please contact financialaid@bgsp.edu or 617-277-3915 with any questions.

Note: For Clinical Mental Health Counseling students, this scholarship applies to the first 60 unique academic credits. Retaken coursework is not eligible.

Tuition Support for Advanced Candidates

For students in the Doctor of Psychoanalysis program who have completed all required candidacy level coursework, passed their clinical presentation, and received approval from the Dean. Eligible students receive a 50% discount on the per-credit course rate, for courses only (not Directed Research, supervision, Therapy Center fees, or other fees).

Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Matching Program

The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis designates a total of $2,000 match of the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award for one AmeriCorps graduate enrolled in a Master’s level program each year. This match is distributed in semester increments; $1,000 in the first semester and $1,000 in the second semester. For information on how to apply, contact the financial aid director at financialaid@bgsp.edu or 617-277-3915.

Therapy Center Fee Support

For students accepted as Therapy Center Fellows. Eligible students receive waiver of the Therapy Center semester fee. Awards will be verified each semester with the Director of the Therapy Center.

Faculty Family Member Scholarship:

For students who are children of a faculty member at BGSP. Eligible students receive an 80% discount (if faculty service is greater than 5 years) or 50% discount (if faculty service is less than 5 years) on the per-credit course rate, for courses only (not Directed Research, Supervision, Therapy Center fees, or other fees).

BGSP Employees

For part- or full-time BGSP employees who decide to enroll. This does not include students who hold on-campus assistantships. Employees may be offered tuition support as part of their salary or benefits. Awards will be verified each semester with the Controller.

Federal Student Loans

BGSP students are eligible to apply for Title IV Federal Student Loans through the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans). See the eligibility section below for full eligibility rules. Under the Direct Loan Program, students borrow loan funds directly from the US Department of Education. Students may apply for loans in the Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program and/or the Direct Grad PLUS Loan Program. The Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program carries a lower interest rate and it is recommended that students exhaust their Direct Unsubsidized Loan eligibility before borrowing in the Direct Grad PLUS Loan Program. Both programs carry a fixed interest rate. The interest rates as of July 1, 2022 are listed below for the 2022-23 award year.

In the past 5 years, as of the 2020-21 academic year, the average student loan debt for those graduates who borrow is $71,095. For more information on tuition and fees, click here. Cost of Attendance information is available here for students to help determine their yearly costs, including living expenses, while attending BGSP.

The Federal Student Loan program offers a variety of options when it is time for repayment of your loans after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. For an overview of those options, including plans that base your monthly payment amount on your income, visit https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment. At BGSP, the 3-year cohort default rate for the most recent reporting cycle (FY 2018) is 5.3%. For reference, the national average cohort default rate for the same period (FY 2018) was 7.3%: https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultmanagement/cdr.html

  • Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program (6.54% fixed interest rate)
    • Annual limit of $20,500 unsubsidized (you pay all the interest, although you can have the payments deferred until after graduation). Aggregate loan limit is $138,500.00 for graduate students.
    • You may pay interest-only while in school (to avoid compounded interest). You may make a payment at any time without penalty.
    • You may defer repayment until 6 months after graduation.

  • Direct Grad PLUS Loan Program (7.54% fixed interest rate)
    • Does not affect your aggregate loan limit.
    • You may pay interest-only while in school, or may make a payment at any time without penalty.
    • Goes into immediate repayment unless the student defers repayment until after graduation.
    • Additional eligibility information: A credit check is required, and only credit-worthy students will be approved. Students may have a US citizen co-sign the loan.

  • Eligibility
    • U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen (i.e. non-resident alien, citizen of U.S. Territory)
    • Enrolled in an eligible program. All degree programs at BGSP are eligible.
    • Registered at least half-time (4+ credits, 6+ credits for counseling students). Students that have completed all coursework and are working on their thesis or final paper are considered half time if they are registered for at least 3 credits of directed research. For financial aid purposes only, the limit for directed research only status is 3 semesters for Master’s students and 6 semesters for Certificate and Doctoral students (actual time to finish paper may be longer or shorter).
    • Good academic standing (Satisfactory Academic Progress): Students are required to make Satisfactory Academic Progress in their program of study to maintain eligibility for Federal Student Aid. To achieve this, students must be in good academic standing, meaning they are progressing through the program, earning passing grades and making up any incomplete grades by the deadline. Students are considered to have fallen out of good academic standing if they are not progressing at the minimum completion pace of 67% or if they are placed on probation. For information about the criteria for being placed on probation, please refer to the Student Handbook. Students that do not meet this requirement are not eligible to receive financial aid and may go into repayment until they are once again in good standing.
    • Completing the program within the financial aid time limit: Students are required to complete the program within 1½ times the published program length. A student who exceeds the maximum timeframe is not eligible to receive additional federal student aid.

Extended Payment Plan

Under this plan, the full tuition may be equally divided and paid in five equal payments as specified in the registration materials. The application for the extended payment plan is provided with the registration materials and should be submitted with the registration form. The student submits five post-dated checks representing the five calculated payments. There is a $75.00 fee for this service, paid at the time of registration.

Assistantships

A extremely limited number of on-campus assistantships are available and granted on the basis of need and the ability to perform the tasks of a specific assistantship. Generally, assistantships are not available to first year students. The assistantship is considered a loan and un-worked hours will be billed to the students account. Please contact the Dean, Dr. Lynn Perlman, and the Director of Financial Aid, Ms. Stephanie Woolbert, for more information.

Private Education Loans

In addition to federal student loans, private student loans are also available. BGSP does not maintain preferred lender agreements with any private education lender. When researching your loan options, we recommend that you exhaust any US Federal Student Aid eligibility first. Generally, the terms for Federal Student Loans are more favorable than private loans. Additionally, you are strongly encouraged to compare and understand all repayment conditions before applying for a private education loan. Here are some components to consider when choosing a loan product:

  • Fees: Does the lender pay all or a portion of the loan origination fees? The default fee (guarantor fee)?
  • Benefits during repayment: Does the lender provide an interest rate deduction for scheduling automatic payments? Is there any benefit for making consecutive on time payments?
  • Customer service: Who will be servicing your loan when it goes into repayment (i.e. who will you be making payments to)? Is there a toll free customer service number? Will all of your loans be combined into one monthly bill? Is there an online interface?
  • Convenience: Do you already have loans with a particular lender?

Veterans Education Benefits

The Brookline campus is approved by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs for students to claim their Veteran’s Education Benefits. Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, up to three qualifying veterans may receive a matching Yellow Ribbon grant of up to $4,000 from BGSP. Please contact BGSP’s VA Certifying Official at financialaid@bgsp.edu for more information and to receive an application.

For more information, please click the links below or contact the Financial Aid Office.

Scholarships

Students are encouraged to seek outside scholarships. The following websites have information for students looking for help to finance their education.

Need-Based Scholarships

BGSP need-based scholarships are sometimes available. A need-based scholarship is granted on the basis of financial need. To determine financial need, BGSP uses the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) determination from the FAFSA, and subtracts this from your estimated Cost of Attendance for the year.

There are currently no new need-based scholarship opportunities at this time. When available, detailed information on each award, application rules, and deadlines will be posted here.

Federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Applying for Aid

Browse below for more information on how to apply for a specific type of aid:

Federal Student Loans

Please complete the following:

PLEASE FILL OUT ALL FORMS COMPLETELY, SIGN, AND RETURN VIA MAIL OR FAX TO:

Office of Financial Aid
Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
1581 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446-4602
USA
fax: 617-277-0312

Institutional Financial Aid

For all types of Institutional Aid at BGSP, please fill out the  BGSP Application for Institutional Financial Aid before the deadline.  Applicants to the Career Advancement Scholarship must also fill out the Career Advancement Scholarship Application.

Information for Need-Based Scholarships:

Need-based scholarships are not available at this time.  Detailed information about application will be listed here when scholarships are available.  Generally, students will be asked to complete the appropriate FAFSA for the corresponding award year.  For more information, please contact the Financial Aid Office at 617-277-3915 ext. 19.