Jewish Theological Seminary Double Degree Program

Financial Aid Application Procedures

Barnard-JTS Double Degree students wishing to be considered for financial aid must apply to both programs for aid and submit all required documents to the respective schools. Barnard's Financial Aid Office packages all students accepted into the BC-JTS Double Degree program. All award letters come from Barnard College outlining the combined budget from both schools and the awards from both institutions.

Students wishing to be considered for Barnard financial aid must fill out the same forms all first year applicants complete BY FEBRUARY 15TH DEADLINE.

Students wishing to be considered for JTS financial aid must:

• Follow the 2013-2014 JTS application instructions
• Complete the 2013-2014 JTS application for financial aid
• Submit the FAFSA www.fafsa.ed.gov (JTS code 002740)
• Submit the CSS Profile form (JTS code 2339)
• Submit the Verification Worksheet (form is included with the JTS application for financial aid)
• Submit taxes for student, spouse and parents
• BY MARCH 1ST DEADLINE

Budget for Barnard-JTS Double Degree Students

A standard budget includes the cost of tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies and travel. For Double Degree students, the budgets are a combination of tuition, fees, and other costs at both schools.

The following budget information is based on the 2012-2013 academic year and will be updated in the spring of 2013 for the 2013-2014 academic year:

Full time at Barnard (12 points or more)= $20,925 per semester

Full time at JTS (9 points or more) = $8,210 per semester

Less than full time registration at either institution results in per point charges for any courses taken at that institution.

Barnard: $1,395 per point

JTS: $935 per point

A sample budget for a typical Double Degree student would include:

Travel allowances range from $0 to $800 per year.

* In addition, there is an orientation fee of $400 for first-year students at Barnard and JTS may charge their own additional fees.

If a student lives in JTS housing, the room cost is $10,050 and the meal plan is $2,500 for the academic year.

Families can use this sample budget to create an actual budget for the year.

Adjust the number of credits at each institution for the semester and use either full time tuition figures if taking at least 12 credits at Barnard or 9 credits at JTS or per point tuition charges if taking fewer than 12 credits at Barnard or fewer than 9 credits at JTS.

All award letters are generated by Barnard Financial Aid. Each letter will include an estimated budget until course registration is complete. When registration is final, a revised financial aid award letter will be mailed to the student and posted to the Barnard financial aid portal.

Barnard Financial Aid will attempt to contact each Double Degree student to determine the number of anticipated points at each school for the term. As registrations change, so will budgets and financial aid awards. Contact Barnard Financial Aid as those changes occur so that the aid package can be updated.

Understanding Your Award

Budget: Each student has an estimate of academic year expenses, or a budget, which includes all essential expenses such as tuition, fees, room, board, books and personal expenses. Every student will have a slightly different budget depending on the number of credits she is taking at each institution.

In addition to a budget, Barnard calculates a family contribution. This family contribution is based on standard formulas that estimate how much each family can contribute to their daughter’s education. The family contribution is constant and is based on the financial information submitted to both schools on the FAFSA and CSS profile form with supporting tax documentation. A student's budget does not affect the family contribution.

Each student also has self-help (a loan and a job) that she is expected to contribute to her own education. In 2012-2013, the self-help contribution for most first-year students is $5,500 ($3,500 loan and $2,000 job).

The grant aid you receive is calculated by taking the established budget, subtracting the family contribution and the self-help. The remaining amount (or need) is your grant aid for the year.

For a family with a $14,000 family contribution and a total budget of $66,434 for the year (budget above), the grant would be calculated as follows:

Half of this grant will come from Barnard, and half will come from JTS. Your financial aid award letter, sent to you by Barnard’s Financial Aid, will reflect the total grant aid you are receiving from each school.

How to Figure Out and Pay Your Bills

Once you know how much grant aid you are receiving from each school, you can figure out how to pay your bill.

You will receive a bill from Barnard and a separate bill from JTS.

The Barnard bill will reflect all tuition and fee charges for the semester from Barnard only and will credit any grant aid from Barnard to your Barnard account. All loans you have applied for are processed by Barnard and will appear on your Barnard account as a credit. The Barnard bill will also reflect a room and board charge if you are living in the Barnard dorms and have a Barnard meal plan.

The JTS bill will reflect all tuition and fee charges for the semester from JTS only and will credit any grant aid from JTS to your JTS account. The JTS bill will also reflect a room charge if you are living in JTS housing.

Refunds

If you are receiving more financial aid from one school than will be charged to you for that semester, you will be eligible for a refund of the excess aid. More often than not, there is then an outstanding balance at the other school which will need to be paid. We suggest that students bring the refund checks from one institution to the Bursar's office at the other institution to sign them over directly to cover any outstanding balance that may be due.

Loan Application Procedures

All loans for Double Degree students are processed by Barnard College. All loan proceeds are delivered electronically to Barnard College. If the loan proceeds constitute an overpayment of the outstanding balance at Barnard, a refund will be issued. If a student still has outstanding charges at JTS, the refund check can be signed over to the JTS bursar to cover the balance due.

Students interested in borrowing a Federal Direct Stafford Loan should click here for procedures and a list of required documents.

Parents interested in borrowing a Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) should click here for procedures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Barnard's policy brochure states that only full-time students are eligible to receive Barnard College grant aid. If I am taking 6 points at Barnard and another 6 at JTS, am I eligible for a Barnard College grant?

A. Yes. As long as the combined number of points taken at Barnard and JTS is at least 12, you are eligible for a Barnard College grant.

Q. How is my budget determined if I decide to live at JTS?

A. The room and board allowance for JTS residents in 2012-2013 is $12,550.  Any student wishing to live in JTS housing should notify Barnard Financial Aid to make sure that the financial aid budget reflects JTS allowances for room and board. Please also provide our office with a JTS local telephone number and address.

Q. What happens to my financial aid package if I want to live off-campus?

A. Students not residing in JTS or Barnard housing are considered commuters and are given a budget that includes only a lunch budget, not a housing budget. This reduces a student's budget and consequently their financial aid by approximately $11,500 for the year.

Q. What if I need more than four years to complete my double degree program?

A. Barnard offers all students a maximum of 8 terms of financial aid. All semesters a student is in attendance count towards the 8 terms even if they do not qualify for aid in some of those terms.

Therefore, only JTS funding would be available after the 8 semesters has been exhausted. Contact JTS with questions about additional semesters of aid.

Q. Sometimes JTS offers merit aid. If I get a merit award, how does that affect my financial aid?

A. Barnard's policy is to treat merit awards as outside scholarships, and this includes merit awards from JTS. All merit awards first reduce the loan and job portion of the financial aid package so that it is always to a student's advantage to receive an outside scholarship.

Q. Can I use the refund I receive from JTS to pay for Barnard?

A. Yes. If your aid from JTS covers your outstanding balance and allows for a refund JTS will issue you a refund check. If you have an outstanding balance at Barnard, you can bring the refund check to the Barnard Bursar's Office on the ground floor of Milbank Hall and sign the check over to help pay the remaining balance. Barnard's Bursar is open between 10am and 4pm, Monday through Friday.

Contact Us

Please call or email with any questions you have about your award or your bill.

Barnard Financial Aid
finaid@barnard.edu
212-854-2154

JTS Financial Aid
financialaid@jtsa.edu
212-678-8000

Barnard Bursar
bursar@barnard.edu
212-854-2026

JTS Bursar
bursar@jtsa.edu
212-678-8000