Paying for Your Graduate Education
Once Five-Year GSP students complete their undergraduate degree program, they need to consider how they will pay the cost of enrolling in the Graduate School.
NOTE: Any financial assistance given to a Five-Year GSP student to complete a BS/BA degree (i.e. Presidential / Trustee Scholarship, grant money or loan) will end when the student graduates from the Undergraduate College and transitions into the McCallum Graduate School.
Undergraduate scholarships do not “carry over” to the graduate school, even if you attained your bachelor’s degree in fewer than eight semesters. Graduate financial aid policies go into effect once a Five-Year GSP student completes his or her BA/BS degree, and the student enrolls in a graduate program.
When thinking about how to pay for your graduate education, you need to consider two options: merit-based and need-based aid.
Merit-Based Aid
The Graduate Admission Office is responsible for awarding merit-based aid to qualified candidates. Merit-based awards can be either a Graduate Assistantship or Scholarship. A Five-Year student who wants to be considered for an award to help with the cost of the graduate degree is required to complete the same merit-based aid process as a traditional applicant to the McCallum Graduate School. This means the Five-Year student must submit the following six items to the Graduate Admission Office no later than February 1.
- Graduate Application Form
- Merit-Based Aid Application
- Current Resume
- Essay (Question appears on the Application Form)
- GMAT Score Report (The Graduate Admission Office will accept an unofficial GMAT score report to review a student's request for merit-based aid while waiting for the official score report to arrive.)
- Two letters of recommendation
(Candidates to the MSA, MSFP & MST programs can submit the two required recommendations from members of the Bentley faculty.
Candidates to the EMBA, MSF, MSF-QF, MSMA & MSIT programs can use the recommendation (from a former supervisor) they are required to submit with their Graduate School Application as one of the required recommendations, and can submit one recommendation from a member of the Bentley Faculty.)
A Five-Year GSP student’s request for assistance will be considered along with applications for merit-based aid received from traditional applicants to the McCallum Graduate School.
Note: There is no merit-based aid available for a student who begins a
graduate program during the January term.
Please review the Merit Based Aid Policy for Five-Year Students for more information.
The McCallum Graduate School of Business awards merit-based aid to academically outstanding full-time students admitted to a Master’s degree program for the September term.
Merit-based aid is not available to students who enroll in the McCallum Graduate School beginning with the January term.
Need-Based Aid
The Graduate Financial Aid Office (Rauch 104) is responsible for administering need-based aid to qualified candidates. Please review the following information carefully.
Graduate Financial Aid Information
Applying for graduate financial assistance is very similar to the undergraduate process. Students are required to file the following documents:
- The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Bentley Graduate Aid Application
- Signed copy of their most recent federal tax return and
W-2 Form(s) - The CSS Profile Form *
Students should be sure to indicate Bentley’s FAFSA code is 002124 and the CSS Profile code for graduate students is 3098. Be aware that the FAFSA form can take up to two weeks to be processed. Additional time may be needed if corrections are required. You should take this into consideration when deciding when to begin the graduate financial aid process.
NOTE: By virtue of the fact that you are entering a graduate program, you are considered independent by federal standards and are not required to report parent information on the FAFSA. However, you are considered “independent” for federal aid only.
Your eligibility for federal loans will be based on your income and asset information alone. As a graduate student, you are entitled to receive up to $20,500 per academic year in federal Stafford Loan funding. $8,500 of that total is potentially available to you in the subsidized Stafford.
* Regarding the CSS Profile Form …
NOTE: If you plan to enroll as a full-time graduate student (minimum of 9 credits) and wish to be considered for institutional need-based grant programs, you must furnish parent information on the CSS Profile Form.
An estimated parent contribution will be calculated and taken into account in determining your eligibility for a Bentley Graduate Need Grant. If your family’s finances are such that you do not expect to demonstrate need, you can contact the Office of Graduate Financial Assistance and request that the profile requirement be waived.
NOTE: Bentley has a limited amount of institutional need-based grant money to award to graduate students. Please
consider this when making the decision as to whether or
not to provide parental information in the graduate financial
aid process.
Neither federal nor state grants are available to graduate students. While Bentley College is committed to assisting needy students at the graduate level, funding is limited. As a rule, a lesser percentage of need is covered by grant funding and you can expect your financial aid package to be more heavily weighted towards federal loans (most students qualify for $20,500).
Students receiving aid or scholarship funding from a private organization need to check with that agency to see if the award will be available for graduate studies.
For additional information: Applying for Graduate Financial Aid
For questions related to Merit-Based Aid, please contact:
Ellen Snedeker
LaCava 295
Telephone: 781.891.2110
E-mail: esnedeker@bentley.edu
For questions related to Need-Based Aid, please contact:
Ron Fetter
Senior Assistant Director of Financial Assistance
116 Rauch Administration Center
Telephone: 781.891.3168
E-mail: gradaid@bentley.edu
