<p>I've received my financial aid package, but I wanted to know what does "accepting" an amount of financial aid mean? For example, if I accept #3,500 Federal Perkins Loan, does that mean I have to take out that loan?</p>
<p>I essentially want to know, if I accept the offers for financial aid, will I be tied to them (receiving them, taking them out, etc?)</p>
<p>Is there anything negative attributed to taking out loans you are awarded? Granted you need to pay them back but they are not due until after you graduate – so why not take them, use them if you need them and pay them back immediately after you graduate, if you didn’t need them. Does this make sense?</p>
<p>I was just wondering, because I did accept all the loans I could which total $9,500 but I have a good feeling I’ll be getting a good amount of outside scholarships and I won’t need that amount in loans.</p>
<p>At my D’s school the loans are equally divided between Fall and Spring semester (as is merit aid, etc). If you receive more in outside scholarships you may be able to decline some or all the loans for the second half of the year. Talk to your FA office.</p>
<p>You should find out what the outside scholarship policy is at your school. As far as I know, one must report those outside scholarships to the schools. They could reduce your financial accordingly. At two of the schools my D has been accepted, the policy starts with reducing “self-help” aid like subsidized loans (the better kind, of course) and work study, then it can move on to grants. It all depends on the amount of money.</p>