What Every Gap Year Student Should Know About Financial Aid

What is a gap year? A “gap year” is a span of time between the end of undergraduate education and the beginning of dental school. It can be longer than a year, depending on your circumstances.

When taking a gap year, there are important steps every student should consider or take if they anticipate needing financial aid for dental school, dental hygiene programs or any other graduate degree program following their gap year.

Keep Your Loans From College in Good Standing

In general, federal loans have a six-month grace period that starts as soon as you graduate or drop below half-time status. This means any federal loans you have from college will be coming due in the middle of your gap year. These loans will be placed into deferment when you matriculate in dental school the following year, but you will be in repayment for at least part of your gap year. Be sure to work closely with your loan servicer to either select a repayment plan when they come due or, if needed, postpone them until you matriculate into dental school and they are placed into deferment status. You can find your loan servicer for your federal loans at StudentAid.gov. Just look for the “dashboard” that lists all your federal student loans. 

Pay Off Consumer Debts Before You Matriculate

Your school’s cost of attendance (COA), also called the financial aid budget, sets the limit on how much financial aid you can have each year from all sources (grants, scholarships and loans), but it cannot include consumer debts, such as credit card payments. Therefore, it is extremely important that you pay these off in full before you start dental school, otherwise you will be over budget before you even start school.

Until you are accepted, the financial aid office at the school you plan to attend cannot notify you about how much and what type of financial aid you will receive, but you don’t have to wait until you’re accepted to actually apply for financial aid. Checking with your school’s financial aid office should help ensure you don’t miss any important deadlines for grants and scholarships, which are the best types of financial aid since they do not have to be repaid. Have your financial aid application completed so as soon as you are accepted, they can start processing your aid application.

Take a look at programs like the U.S. Armed Forces, the National Health Service Corps and the Indian Health Service, for example, which provide financial support for tuition and living expenses in exchange for service. While not for everyone, these programs are a great way to either eliminate or greatly reduce your student loan debt from dental school.

There is a tremendous amount of incomplete and inaccurate information regarding financial aid programs, especially when it comes to student loans, repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Simply put, don’t believe everything you hear or read about these programs, especially on social media. Rather, work with your school’s financial aid office for the latest and best information on how to pay for dental school, including any updates on financial aid programs.

Use All Available Resources to Help

While you should always check with your school’s financial aid office first, ADEA GoDental has a substantial amount of information on paying for dental school under the Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid Advice sections that may help.