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but I cant fnd a solid answer. When schools say you can borrow federally up to the COA does that mean they will subtract merit aid from that?

For example if full COA is 60k/year and you get 20k/year merit aid can you borrow the full 60k or just the 40k?

Not a silly question for someone who has never been to grad school. Your assumption is correct up to a point. You can borrow up to the cost of attendence with federally insured loans, Usually GradPlus. If that is not enought you can borrow liberally from just about any lender offering 'private' loans. People are in different situations. Some people have parents that are helping with law school, others are married with children, and car payments and the like. The Cost of Attendance figure is a narrow number based on the cost of a single person attending school right at the poverty line essentially. Its enough for rent and utilities. You may contact financial aid to have that number adjusted based on your situation. Hope this helps...

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thank you both.