Using FA from one school to pay for another?

Hello,

I have a tricky question for you.

I am currently enrolled in an Ed.S. program at one school. It's a good school, but I will eventually have to participate in a series of intensives on-campus, which is difficult for me because I am currently living overseas.

I am interested in attending American College of Education and their Ed.D. - Leadership degree program. But, they do not offer federal loans.

Here are my questions:

1. I am currently receiving Stafford loans. Would it be illegal/not allowed if I pocket the reimbursement money and use it to pay for tuition at ACE? Can you be audited for how you use FA refunds?

2. I read somewhere that Stafford loans only require a student to enroll half-time to receive full FA. Is this correct? I ask because if I am allowed to use FA to pay for the other school, I would just enroll half-time in the first school to collect the money to pay for ACE.

The only thing stopping me is that I wonder if a degree from ACE, even though it is RA, would be enough to get me a job as a principal (I am testing for my principal license in September) or as a university professor (should I decide to go that route). Does anyone here know how well received a degree from ACE is in academia?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

I would only take a course per semester until I have enough FA. This would be four more courses.

However, I just read something about a "Completion Pathway" that ACE offers graduates of an Ed.S. program. I'm going to ask them about it.

 

So this is something I had thought about doing a while ago while I was being crazy and thinking of being enrolled in two masters programs at once. The only issue that comes up with this is your school may have a rule that they will only allow you to be enrolled in one program at a time. They could approve you to be a visiting student at another school so you could transfer in credit to their program, but again not an additional degree. If they find out you are enrolled in a second program simultaneously they could technically boot you out. As for it actually happening, who knows but it could and that would probably not be the result you are looking for.

 

This is sorta relevant. Is it really? Well, a little bit. No, not really.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/06/06/i-will-not-help-you-hide-your-money-when-you-apply-for-financial-aid-and-more-straight-talk-from-college-admissions-officers-to-parents/

 

I spoke with ACE and got some information about the Completion Pathway.

Graduates of an Ed.S. program would only have to take the research courses and complete the dissertation. This equals about 31 credit hours total. At $306 per credit hour, this is a pretty good deal. I plan to go this route.