{"id":381,"date":"2021-12-10T09:14:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T14:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/financial-aid\/?page_id=381"},"modified":"2025-10-29T09:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T13:01:05","slug":"financial-aid-for-graduate-students","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/financial-aid\/financial-aid-for-graduate-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial Aid for Graduate Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-resources-to-continue-your-journey-as-a-graduate-student\">Resources to Continue your Journey as a Graduate Student<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Graduate students <em>must<\/em> be enrolled in degree programs for a minimum of 3 credit hours per semester and complete or renew the<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/h\/apply-for-aid\/fafsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Free Application for Federal Student Aid &#8211; (FAFSA)<\/a><\/strong> each year to qualify for federal loan programs. The FAFSA application opens on October 1st each year for the next academic year. <em>Find instructions at the bottom of the page for graduate first-time borrowers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For the <strong>2026-202<\/strong>7 academic year (Fall 2026, Spring 2027 and Summer 2027), you need to file the 2026-27 FAFSA online using the Citadel School Code #003423 at <a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/h\/apply-for-aid\/fafsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>studentaid.gov<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<div class=\"statbox outstatbox\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: bold\">FEDERAL SCHOOL CODE<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 2.5rem;margin: 0 0 10px\" class=\"has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"font-size: 2.5rem\">003423<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-size: .7rem\">Use this code in your FAFSA to have results sent to The Citadel. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-100\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/h\/apply-for-aid\/fafsa\">START FASFA<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/web.citadel.edu\/root\/images\/Financial_Aid\/fsa_id_info.pdf\">What is an FSA ID? &amp; Why Do I Need One?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns has-citadel-navy-background-color has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-important-information\">Important Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Graduate and professional students must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 credit hours in a semester to be categorized as a half-time student during that semester.&nbsp;For federal financial aid (federal student loans), this definition of half-time status is important in two ways:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1. Students must be registered at least half-time to be eligible for federal student loans;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2. Students must be registered at least half-time to qualify for an in-school deferment on their prior federal student loans. &nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Graduate students must also be enrolled in a degree-seeking program to be eligible for federal financial aid. Graduate Certificate students are not eligible for federal financial aid.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>2026-2<\/strong>7 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/h\/apply-for-aid\/fafsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FAFSA<\/a><\/strong> is now available to be filed at <a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/h\/apply-for-aid\/fafsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">studentaid.gov<\/a> (Fall 2026, Spring 2027 and Summer 2027 semesters).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You must create a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/fsa-id\/create-account\/launch\">FSA ID<\/a><\/strong>, which is your official passport to federal student aid online.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Graduate <strong>First-Time Direct Loan Student Borrowers:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Using your FSA ID, sign in at studentloans.gov:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Complete your Direct Loan <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/entrance-counseling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Entrance Counseling<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sign your <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/mpn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Master Promissory Note<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/financial-aid\/graduate-assistantships\/\">Graduate Assistantships<\/a><\/strong> are available in many college departments. The Citadel Human Resources Department recruits graduate assistants and matches candidates with positions. Please file your application with the Human Resources Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scstudentloan.org\/school-loans\/sc-teacher-loan-programs-forgiveness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">South Carolina Teacher Loan<\/a><\/strong> may be a good option for you if you are a student completing your initial teaching certification or a professional changing careers in order to teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find helpful resources under&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/root\/financial-aid-links\">Links<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>and&nbsp;by contacting community groups in your area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you cannot find what you need online, please <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citadel.edu\/financial-aid\/contact-financial-aid-scholarships\/\">contact<\/a><\/strong> the financial aid office with your questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Resources to Continue your Journey as a Graduate Student Graduate students must be enrolled in degree programs for a minimum of 3 credit hours per semester and complete or renew the Free Application for Federal Student Aid &#8211; (FAFSA) each year to qualify for federal loan programs. The FAFSA application opens on October 1st each [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":401,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-381","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Financial Aid for Graduate Students<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Graduate students should renew the FAFSA each year to qualify for federal loan programs. 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