Graduate School: Full Time vs. Part Time?

Hello All,

I am graduating from undergrad in December and hoping to start Graduate school at the Univ of Surrey next year. Can anyone please provide some insight on going to Graduate school part time as opposed to full time? I was originally considering full time, but now I'm thinking, hey...I'll be in Europe! What's the rush? Any insight on pros and cons of full vs part time would be highly appreciated.

Also, can anyone provide me with information about the financial aspects of attending full time? For instance, is my federal student loan max still going to be $18,500, or will that decrease? Also, to gain entry into the country, will I have to provide proof of maintenance funds and tuition funds for 2 years, or one?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Shea

If you are coming in on a student visa, you are required to do 15 hours of course work, or full time studies.

I believe the maximum amount you can take out is $20,500 for Graduate Stafford. Was $18,500 the old max amount? The amount of loans you can take out will depend on your EFC and the financial aid office of the University of Surrey. However, most of the students on here were able to take out the full amount so that shouldn't be a problem.

Since your school is outside of Greater London, you will need to provide proof of accessibility to 5400GBP and the cost of tuition. They only require you to show the cost of the first year when you are applying for your visa.

The maximum is $20,500 per year with an aggregate maximum of $138,500 (with $8500/year and aggregate total of $65,000 included in those numbers). I don't think the EFC really affects the Stafford loans, but it does affect private and additional loans (e.g. I don't qualify for the PLUS loans because my EFC is high enough, but I do get the full Stafford amount). You can't do part-time study while in the UK on a student visa; however if you are able to finagle it, you can do PT study while not resident in the UK (which probably won't happen until the writing up year).
If you're doing a research programme, you'll still be able to enjoy Europe as much as you can afford. At least with mine, we have been able to hit a few spots in the year that we've been here (my wife is here for moral support). I've been able to find a number of conferences in travel spots as well (and have been able to get funding from the uni to attend these). I have a friend who's spending a month in SE Asia while still doing her work.
If I remember the new regulations (sorry, I came over on the old ones!), you need to provide evidence of having at least £800 (plus £400 per dependent with you) per month for 9 months in addition to your tuition fees.

Thanks for your responses. I was unaware that you weren't able to go part-time on a student visa. I guess that solves that!

impleri, I appreciate your insight on still being able to travel and enjoy Europe.

With the $20,500 Stafford Loan, I'm still going to be about $2500 shy of entry requirements which include tuition and the monthly requirement. Not to mention any extra for additional living expenses, travel, etc. And unfortunately, I don't have sufficient enough credit history to get a Grad Plus loan, and really no feasible options for cosigners. Now it's just figuring out how I'm going to fund this thing.