Financing Your Graduate Education

Unsubsidized (the student pays all the interest, although the payments can be deferred until after graduation) Direct Stafford loans have annual and aggregate loan limits.  The annual loan limit is $20,500.  The aggregate loan limit (including Stafford loans borrowed as an Undergraduate) is $138,500. 

• Interest Rate 4.30% 
• Origination Fee 1.057% 

Understand how interest is calculated and what fees are associated with your federal student loan.

Graduate Direct PLUS loans are federal loans available to help fill the gap between your expenses. 

(Cost of Attendance) and your financial aid package. These are available to students pursuing a Graduate degree.  They are credit-based and an application is required.  (Don't confuse this with a Parent Plus Loan.  As a Graduate student, your parent is no longer eligible to apply for this loan.) 

• Interest Rate 5.30% 
• Origination Fee 4.228% 

*Rates and fees as of October 1, 2020.  Subject to change for the 2021-2022 aid year. 

Understand how interest is calculated and what fees are associated with your federal student loan.

Learn more about Direct PLUS Loans on the Financial Aid TV site

Merit Scholarships 

All full-time applicants are automatically reviewed for merit scholarships. Merit scholarship awards are based on past academic and professional achievements. Wentworth students continuing directly from their undergraduate program will automatically receive their undergraduate merit scholarship for their graduate program.  

Alumni Scholarship  

The Alumni Scholarship helps Wentworth alumni with a 20% tuition discount to finance their graduate education. This scholarship applies to all alumni enrolled in a part-time graduate program. 

Leadership Scholarship 

The Leadership Scholarship identifies part-time students who are leaders in their fields and awards them with up to a 20% tuition discount to finance their graduate education and will apply to all qualifying graduate degrees and certificates at the University. These awards will be based both on GPA and professional experience and accomplishments. 

Inclusive Excellence Scholarship 

In support of Wentworth’s mission, we offer scholarships to prospective part-time students that support our pursuit of Inclusive Excellence with up to a 20% tuition discount to finance their graduate education and will apply to all qualifying graduate degrees and certificates at the university. 

Trail Blazer in STEM Scholarship 

Wentworth seeks applicants who have demonstrated/embodied university values through being hands-on, future-focused and career-ready. The trailblazer scholarship will be awarded to part-time applicants who have demonstrated forward-thinking innovation in STEM through a job, internship or school project.  

Colleges of the Fenway (COF) Scholarship 

The COF Graduate scholarship helps COF students and alumni with up to a 20% tuition discount to finance their graduate education and will apply to all qualifying graduate degrees and certificates at the university. To qualify, applicants must be a graduate of a COF institution and be admitted to a part-time master’s program at Wentworth.    

Please note: 

• Scholarships cannot be stacked. Students (including alumni) will only be awarded for one of the awards in the suite even if they qualify for more than one. Scholarships and discounts cannot be combined. 

• Alumni who will have completed a degree from Wentworth are automatically considered for the scholarships when they are admitted into a graduate program. 

Wentworth Institute of Technology now offers Graduate Fellowships opportunities. These allow students to work for the university while studying to earn an additional $4500 over the academic year. The work will consist of approximately 10hrs/week, with the positions varying from studio/lab fellows, research fellows, teaching fellows, and tutors. These opportunities are a great way to earn money to finance your studies and are an excellent opportunity to enhance your resume for your future employment. These positions are limited. Admitted students will be invited to apply if their program qualifies and still has open positions available. Once awarded, the Graduate Fellowship positions are renewable for the length of your program, not to exceed two academic years, provided you are enrolled as a full-time student, you are in good academic and conduct standing, and you meet the minimum academic standards set by the program

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is a form that can be prepared annually by current and prospective college graduate students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid. It is free and available online FAFSA

In order to be eligible for any of the Federal Aid programs a student must: 

• be admitted to an eligible program 
• be a US citizen or Eligible Non-Citizen 
• be registered with Selective Service if you are a male between the ages of 18 and 25 
• not owe a refund on a grant or be in default status on any federal student loan 
• not have borrowed in excess of the annual aggregate loan limits 
• be enrolled at least half time (6 credits) for Federal Direct loans per semester 
• maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) 

Graduate students at Wentworth are considered independent students thus they do not need to provide parental data on the FAFSA. 

Also, they will need to check the box 6 for Question 29: 1st year college graduate/professional and box 8 for Question 30: College graduate or professional degree 

FAFSA question snapshot 

Once they have completed a bachelor’s degree, graduate students are no longer eligible for any federal grant funds including the Federal Pell and SEOG grants nor are they eligible for the Federal Subsidized Stafford loans. 

Graduate students are eligible for Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loans up to $20,500 per academic year.  They may also apply for a Federal Graduate PLUS loan. 

Graduate students must be enrolled at least half-time (6 or more credits) per semester to be eligible for the loans. 

If you are graduating from a full-time undergraduate program at Wentworth  directly preceding your attendance as a full-time graduate student, under most circumstances, the merit scholarship received as an undergraduate will remain during your graduate program.  

For example, as an undergraduate in Construction Management a student received a $10,000 merit scholarship.  If that student is graduating with a BS in Construction Management in August 2021 and begins a MS in Project Management program in September 2021, providing they attend full-time and maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA, they will continue to receive that $10,000 merit scholarship. 

Full-time students coming from outside of Wentworth may also qualify for merit scholarship funding.  Merit is awarded at the time of Admission.