They file their forms, they're looked at, and based on their assets, they either qualify for scholarship or not. If they do not qualify for scholarship, then the loan program comes in to help them finance. If they do qualify for need-based scholarship, it goes for one year based upon their income and assets of the preceding year. In their second year, most students have not been working, though they have had summer earnings which may help to decrease the amount that they may need in loans in the second year. Each year is totally separate from the preceding year, so students reapply for scholarship aid for their second year.
Many schools discourage their students from taking on an assistantship during their first year.
We certainly discourage people from doing any kind of assistantship in their first term. We really believe that they'll have enough to do to keep them busy and want them immersed in the program. We would follow that through to the second term as well. Occasionally, there will be a student with a very particular area of interest who develops a relationship with a faculty member who may be doing research. And the two of them will somehow connect in a way that we know nothing about, and they may end up doing something like that.