Graduate & professional aid

For graduate students, the primary types of financial aid that is available is loans and some grants. The process for receiving these types of aid is similar to what you experienced during your undergraduate studies. However, there are some important changes that professional students should be aware of for the 2026-27 academic year and later. We have detailed those changes on this page.

To learn more about common characteristics of loans, we encourage you to review our loans page. We have also compiled a list of common grants you may be eligible to receive on our grants page.

Some limited scholarships may also be available through your program. To learn more about scholarships that are available, please contact your program directly.

Determining your budget for graduate study is just as important as knowing how much your program costs. This includes knowing how much you want to spend right now and how much you want to borrow through student loans.

The loans page provides valuable information that can help you understand how borrowing works, which may help you determine a budget for yourself.

Starting in the 2026-2027 academic year, there have been some important changes implemented for federal lending programs. If you are planning to utilize federal loans to finance your education in 2026–27 or later, we encourage you to review the updates on this page carefully to understand how they may impact your financing plan.

Graduate assistantships are a valuable way to earn money for school while gaining professional experience. Through assistantships, students are able to receive tuition reimbursement while working for faculty members, departments, or colleges.

At the University of Washington, there are three types of graduate student assistantships:

• Teaching Assistant: work with students in a classroom, lab, or quiz section setting
• Research Assistant: work on research projects; does not involve teaching
• Staff Assistant: other types of duties such as, advising or administration

Some, but not all, assistantships provide a tuition waiver and health insurance through the Graduate Appointee Insurance Program (GAIP). Your offer letter from the hiring department will confirm the length of employment, salary and benefits eligibility.

For more information about graduate assistantships, visit the Graduate School’s Assistantships page.

Similar to undergrad, once you are finished doing your research about graduate financial aid and have an idea of the programs you want to pursue, you should submit your application for aid via the FAFSA.

The financial aid offer that you receive in one academic year will NOT automatically transfer to the next year. If you would like to continue receiving aid throughout multiple academic years, you must complete the application process annually.

Review the types of aid page to learn more about all that is available.

Accepting your aid offer is NOT the same as accepting your offer for admission. In order to receive aid, you will need to go through the process of reviewing and accepting your finance aid offer.

If you already have a UW NetID, you can use that to sign in to MyUW to review your aid offer. Once there, follow the guidance on our Apply for & Receive Aid page to make sure you complete this process fully.

Each professional program may have its own financial aid resources and scholarships. As you plan for the future, the first step is to familiarize with your program’s financial aid website:

• Law
• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Pharmacy

For professional students, the primary types of financial aid that is available is loans and some grants. The process for receiving these types of aid is similar to what you experienced during your undergraduate studies. However, there are some important changes that professional students should be aware of for the 2026-27 academic year and later. We have detailed those changes on this page.

To learn more about common characteristics of loans, we encourage you to review our loans page. We have also compiled a list of common grants you may be eligible to receive on our grants page.

Some limited scholarships may also be available through your program. To learn more about scholarships that are available, please contact your program directly.

Determining your budget for graduate study is just as important as knowing how much your program costs. This includes knowing how much you want to spend right now and how much you want to borrow through student loans.

The loans page provides valuable information that can help you understand how borrowing works, which may help you determine a budget for yourself.

Starting in the 2026-2027 academic year, there have been some important changes implemented for federal lending programs.bIf you are planning to utilize federal loans to finance your education in 2026–27 or later, we encourage you to review the updates on this page carefully to understand how they may impact your financing plan.

Similar to undergrad, once you are finished doing your research about graduate financial aid and have an idea of the programs you want to pursue, you should submit your application for aid via the FAFSA.

The financial aid offer that you receive in one academic year will NOT automatically transfer to the next year. If you would like to continue receiving aid throughout multiple academic years, you must complete the application process annually.

Accepting your aid offer is NOT the same as accepting your offer for admission. In order to receive aid, you will need to go through the process of reviewing and accepting your finance aid offer.

If you already have a UW NetID, you can use that to sign in to MyUW to review your aid offer. Once there, follow the guidance on our Apply for & Receive Aid page to make sure you complete this process fully.