You’ve helped your kid get through college in more ways than you can count. You painstakingly filled out financial aid forms for four years. You scrimped and saved to pay tuition bills. You even shelled out the bucks for an off-campus apartment.

Now your college senior is thinking about graduate school. Whether it’s several thousand dollars annually for an MBA degree or $50,000 or more for a year at Harvard Law School, more financial sacrifices may be in order. How will you or your student cover the tab?

More than 80 percent of full-time graduate and professional degree students receive some form of financial aid, according to the Graduate School Student Loan Center, an online financial aid resource center.

With the job market still unsettled, many college seniors are eyeing advanced degree programs. College advisers say it is crucial to explore financial aid options early in the application process to have a fighting chance for special fellowships, grants and scholarships for the fall of 2004.

The first step is to have a clear sense of what career to pursue and how many years of additional education will be required to attain the advanced degree. Then calculate how much money will be needed to pay for tuition, books and the like. Add in collateral costs, such as travel and living expenses. School Web sites or admissions publications should provide most of the information you’re looking for.

The next step is to search for financial aid. Graduate school follows much the same financial aid process as undergrad. That is, all graduate schools require the filing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which can be downloaded from U.S. Department of Education Web site at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Many schools also require additional aid applications.

All graduate students will meet the federal government’s independent student test, which eases qualifying for federal aid. Essentially, if you are a graduate student, you are independent for federal aid purposes – even if your parents still claim you as a dependent on their tax returns and you still live at home.

Stafford loans are among the most prevalent forms of federal aid for grad students. The cap on Stafford loans is $18,500 per year for graduate school.

Another financing option is to find grant money, scholarships or teaching fellowships that may require little, if any, payback.

Indeed, the biggest source of financial aid for grad school comes from the university that you are applying to and the faculty who work there, according to the Princeton Review, a college research and publishing company.

Finally, if applicable, don’t overlook your employer.

Many companies provide generous tuition-assistance programs that cover part of the tuition.

Be cautious about borrowing large amounts of money. Even if you expect a healthy paycheck following graduation, you don’t want to emerge from grad school with crushing debt burdens. To calculate a rough repayment plan, look at the financial costs of attending grad school vs. your potential salary once you find a job.

To learn more about financial aid for grad school, I suggest the Princeton Review’s 2004 edition of “Paying for Grad School Without Going Broke.” If you’re looking online, the Princeton Review Web site at www.princetonreview.com also has articles and a questionnaire to help students search for graduate school programs. More helpful stuff can be found at www.finaid.org, www.wiredscholar.com, collegeboard.com and www.jobweb.com.

—

Graduate school can take years to complete and costs thousands of dollars. Before heading down that path, here are some questions to consider:

Do you have a clear idea of the career you want to pursue? Is a graduate degree a requirement for your career, or could it make your job search difficult because you’ll be seen as overqualified for your field?

Who wants you to go to graduate school? Are you pushing for the advanced degree or are you responding to advice from parents or friends?

Will the time and money you spend on graduate school repay you for money and experience you will earn if you take a job immediately after you receive your undergraduate degree?

If you put off graduate school for a few years, are there things you will gain?

-Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers

—

(Do you have a question or column idea? Call Steve Rosen at (816) 234-4879, e-mail to srosenkcstar.com or write to The Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108.)

—

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS COLUMN

This column is sold separately and is not included in your KRT News Service subscription. To subscribe to this column, please call KRT sales representative Ron Mendell at 316-688-1233 or 800-245-6536 or e-mail him at ronmendellearthlink.net; or, you may purchase individual columns a la carte on KRT Direct at www.krtdirect.com). Outside the United States call Tribune Media Services International at +1-213-237-7987 or e-mail tmsitribune.com.

—

(c) 2004, The Kansas City Star.

Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kcstar.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-01-05-04 0602EST