Students pursuing a graduate degree at TCNJ may be eligible for financial assistance through federal and private loan programs. Federal and State grants are not available for Graduate students.
Graduate students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by established deadlines, as well as meet other regulatory requirements established by the lender(s), if they wish to apply for a loan. Our FAFSA school code is 002642.
Important: Students must have a Social Security Number (SSN) on file in order for TCNJ to gain access to their FAFSA data from the federal processor and import this data into our computer system. Please confirm that you have provided your SSN to Graduate Admissions. Failure to have an SSN in our system will prevent TCNJ from processing any financial assistance for you. For questions, or to provide your SSN, please email to graduate@tcnj.edu.
Semester Enrollment Requirements for Graduate Students:
- Full-time status = 9 or more credit hours
- Half-time status = 5 credit hours
Note: the above enrollment requirements pertain to individual Summer Session Enrollment as well.
Graduate students must be enrolled in at least five (5) credit hours at the 500 level or above in order to be eligible for student loan assistance and for TCNJ to certify enrollment for a loan repayment deferment.
Students taking courses through the Graduate School who have not yet been admitted into a program are not eligible to receive federal funding. You also must be enrolled for courses that count toward your degree; if you enroll for undergraduate level courses as a Graduate student, you may have to provide supporting documentation to show that these credit hours are required for your major.
The receipt of some types of awards, including fellowships and tuition waivers, may decrease student loan eligibility.
Loan Options
Federal Loans:
By completing the FAFSA, students will automatically be eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan through the federal government. This loan does not require a credit check. Student may be eligible to receive this loan as long as they are matriculated at TCNJ and enrolled at least half-time.
Student can borrow up to the following:
$20,500 per academic year for a graduate degree program
$12,500 per year for a graduate certificate program
Please note that these amounts are yearly maximum loan amounts for eligible enrollment in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer semesters/sessions. Please budget accordingly. If you require funding above the maximum amounts listed for the academic year, you will need to explore private loan options.
Private Loans:
For students who have borrowed the maximum federal loan amounts in one academic year, or require additional funding to cover your Cost of Attendance expenses, there are private educational loans available from various financial institutions. These loans are not guaranteed by the federal government, will require a credit check and may have other regulatory requirements for funding. You can explore private loan options here:
https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/about/scholarships/private-scholarship-awards/alternative-student-loans/
https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/loan-processing/
Cost of Attendance
You can view our current cost of attendance budgets here. Please note that the final cost of attendance budgets for each subsequent academic year are not available until prior to the College’s first billing date in July. The College’s budget is contingent on the NJ State budget, which is signed by the Governor after July 1.
Billing/Payment Plans
The Office of Student Accounts manages all services that include billing, payments (payment plans), refunds, parking services and deregistration. You can reach out to them if you have any questions.
https://studentaccounts.tcnj.edu/