<p>They don’t actually give you any of that. Unless your fin-aid was more then COA, you won’t get the 1000 for living and 550 for books.</p>
<p>Are stafford loans supposed to still be pending?</p>
<p>Then why is it marked down living expenses etc?</p>
<p>I’m apparently going to have to take out a loan for spending money then, I’d presume?</p>
<p>This category represents every other student expense–transportation, meals not covered under the standard meal contract, long distance phone calls, clothes, personal hygiene, student insurances, entertainment, etc. It is the most variable and personal component of anyone’s budget. The financial aid budget allows about $65 per week. Personal spending can make or break a college budget! The most important thing is to set yourself an allowance, keep track of your expenses, and stick to your budget. Keep in mind:</p>
<p>That is the description. If I am giving them 23985 for school this year, they should be giving me that 2000ish dollars to spend on things like that assuming it is worked into the budget?</p>
<p>This is confusing to me.</p>
<p>All that’s saying is that you should expect to spend that much on personal expenses and plan your own finances accordingly. Think about it; it wouldn’t make any sense to pay 2000 dollars to the University only to have them turn around and hand it right back to you.</p>
<p>You should take a look at Wolverine Access - Campus Finances - Account Inquiry - Activity to get the detailed breakdown of what you have paid and what you are being charged for.</p>
<p>Fredmar - I’ve found that sometimes they have to catch up with themselves on the postings vs. invoice. Eg. think they update every Thurs. Check your acct. today. If the account detail looks correct, and I were in your shoes, I’d hold up but maybe send them a note for clarification. For example, they didn’t apply the Academic Competitiveness Grant to my s’s account until the same day they processed the charged, but only today am I actually notified that he indeed got that unscheduled grant. That may be what happened in your case too!</p>
<p>Flapm, here’s how it works. The COA is your budget, a combo of all expected expenses including living allowance and books. You have WORK STUDY. They will have advanced you all committed scholarships, grants, loan disbursements etc. You will be SHORT by the amount of your WORK STUDY. So if your work study is say $3000, 1/2 for the first term is $1500. $1000 living plus $500 books = $1500. So it’s entirely possible they’ve credited you 50% of your awards/loans, and you have no money left. So, for living expenses and books, you need to A) Go find a work study job immediately and then B) use that money for living expenses and C) “Cashflow” your book expenses and living expense by other means, eg. summer earnings, while you’re making up the money you need for the term through work study. Make sense?
So, what to take from this is always save as much money during the summer as you can to cover the contingency at the startup of the year.
Now, your budget is LIKELY short the $500 (one half of $1000) that was supposed to come from the Promise award that may or may not be funded this year by the state. So if you’re short even more money, that will be part of it.</p>
<p>Another consideration is that if there was an expected family contribution, then that is usually the amount of the shortfall between money advanced from your package and the actual charges to your bill. Another possibility is that there were additional fees added to your account (eg. a single room instead of double, refrigerator rental, lab fees for specific course etc.). And yet a third source of differential that creates a deficit is the fact that when your COA was assessed, tuition cost 5.9% LESS than it actually did. They do not suddenly give you 5.9% more. So, that’s more than $600 difference as well, unless they gave you more awards AFTER tuition was set in July.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>K- Thanks for the help, I called FA and worked it out. Some strange billing practice, where they refunded some money, then we owed it. All is well. They were very helpful when we contacted them.</p>
<p>I completely understand now, I thought I had to pay them the money then get an overage which was confusing.</p>
<p>Fredm - yeah, they are bound by law to immediately release funds such as plus, but if anyone’s tardy posting a bill (eg. computer showcase) then you have to turn around and pay $ back next billing cycle.</p>
<p>Flapm - Glad I could help and hope you’re not feeling like you’ve ended up with a shortfall. They can’t do anything else about the Promise right now as it shows as pending but if the bump up in tuition has made it tough for you, you may wish to consider contacting them to see if they can find a way to close the gap. Best wishes.
K</p>
<p>
If they decide you’re a junior, your stafford loans will increase, but so will tuition. You will now be paying Upper Division tuition.</p>