AHHHHHHHHH Bursar!!!!! Help!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Indiana University - Bloomington
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<p>Okay, so I just (for the heck of it) looked at the Bursar account, and I didn't think I owed that much money. They listed the fees, and I am over 11,000 already!!!</p>

<p>Okay, so it said that I had an Enrollment Deposit and that I owe $100, however, I paid this of course. It has a "CR" next to it, does that mean it was paid for? If so, why is it listed?</p>

<p>Then, I add all the stuff up and including that, and them added up is $200 more than the computer calculated number! Which actually works out for me, but isn't right.</p>

<p>I understand all the fees and why they are charging me them, except for one of them. Why the heck do I need to pay $480 for the undergraduate business program? I'm not in the business school! Is this a perk for being a direct admit, making us pay more money, or does everyone have this? And is this mandatory?</p>

<p>Also, are all these fees (Technology, Transportation, Activity, Student Health) going to come up again next semester? Or is this a per year thing? I see that my non-resident undergraduate fees and room charges are cut in half (by the way, food isn't on here), but are these mandatory fees in half as well? </p>

<p>I chose the 8 payment option, how are they going to calculate in my loans, work study, and faculty award? Do they divide them by 8 and place that amount in each bill? Because I haven't done any work yet, so I don't think I should be getting stuff off my payments for work study. And for the loans, besides the promissary note, is there anything we need to do? I thought that having a subsidized loan meant that the government paid my interest while I was in school, is that right? And what is the advantage to a perkins, just a lower rate?</p>

<p>Sorry for the rant, can I get some explanation here, or should I e-mail bursar?</p>

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<p>1) everything in the bursar fee is cut in half, only fall semester. Financial aid is not credited in the bursar fee yet.
2) the 480 per semester business fee is a mandatory fee if you are a kelley student, that means if you are a direct admit or intend to transfer to the bschool you must pay this fee.
3) if you chose the 8 payment fee for room and board, that probaly means that a part of your loan will be given back to you as credit from the bursar office and you can use that "credit" to pay those monthly bills - this is assuming that you loaned a big enough amount that included room and board.
4) i believe the stafford and perkins are both subsidized which means no interest during school time.
5) work study money is your personal money, any way you want to use it.
6) the school (IU that is) will contact you regarding the promissory note and other necessary info. once they finish "processing" or whatever your loan, they will email you.</p>

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<p>I just checked my bursar account, and everything seems to be in order. However, my housing fee is around $2.2k for one semester when it should be half of that- I'm in Ashton, supposedly in the Residence Scholars program. Did anyone else get this problem too?</p>

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<p>I checked my son's account, and it only had first semester fees listed. $11,000 sounds about right for one semester out of state. Loans and grants have not yet been factored in. Those were not factored into my son's account last year until September, when they simply deducted them from the total due. That meant the August fee was quite a bit larger than the other months; however, it also meant November was really small, so it all evens out in the end. The first payment of a semester is always bigger than the other months, as well; at least I seem to remember reading that on the page that explained payments.</p>

<p>For the loans, make sure you have signed the forms. There is something on OneStart under financial aid that tells you what to do. Until you do this, you will not have that money credited to your account. (I need to get my son to do that, too. Thanks for the reminder!)</p>

<p>wolves, CR next to a number means that is a credit, something you have paid and which is subtracted rather than added in. It is just listed because they are showing both what you owe and what you have paid. The reason your calculation is $200 more is probably because you added in the $100 credit, when it actually cancels out the $100 enrollment deposit.</p>

<p>Yes, each school has a mandatory fee, such as the $480 you mention. The music school fee is a lot higher, since it covers private lessons, too. Some of those extra fees only come first semester, some each semester, and I can't remember right now which are which. OneStart would be closed now, since it is late, but I will try to remember to check tomorrow, and see if they still have my son's figures from last year up.</p>

<p>Perkins loans have a lower interest rate, and I believe the grace period after graduation is a bit longer (9 months, rather than 6). And yes, you will not have to worry about interest until you start repaying.</p>

<p>Did I answer anything? If not, ask again. Having been through this last year, I may be able to help some.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the explanations guys.</p>

<p>Argh, it just feels like college is kicking in, now I know why so many parents say "don't go in debt!"</p>

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<p>Well, I went and looked over last year's bills, and it looks like all those fees repeat next semester, too. (or at least most of them--I didn't study it too intently) On my son's current Bursar's account, it does show, down near the bottom, anticipated aid, so you see what the actual amount to pay will be. My son did win an additional $500 after applying to the IU Foundation Scholarships this year, and that is not yet listed--but he just received notice of it a week ago, so that is understandable.</p>

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<p>Well, I can relate to A2Wolves' situation. After getting the bill from the bursar's office, I'm estimating that my wife and I will be paying between $116,000 and $145,000 for our son's bachelors' degree education which starts this month (and our son will be taking out loans of $12,000 to $15,000)--meaning that the total is $128,000 to $160,000 for a four-year (or possibly 5-year program, since the business program requires about 140 units for a finance major) bachelors' degree education. Actually, since my son is receiving $4,000 in scholarship money that has already been deducted when computing the costs above, the real cost would be $132,000 to $164,000. Ouch!!!</p>

<p>Fortunately, Indiana University is a fairly low-cost school--although we are paying out-of-state tuition. (It actually was the lowest cost of all the schools he applied to). Heaven help the person who wants to go to an expensive school (think George Washington or Pepperdine) and plans to do it entirely on loans. Hopefully, that person will come to their senses before it is too late.</p>

<p>P.S. Please note that the numbers above include everything--tuition, fees, dorm room and furnishings, meal plans, books, spending money, and trips back and forth from college to the West Coast where we live.</p>

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<p>Calcruzer, I find it less painful not to think in terms of total costs. We just work on getting through one semester, or even one month, at a time. We are saving some this year, as our son is an RA, which gives him free room and board plus $1200 for the year. He also has $4000 in scholarship money a year, although he added on $500 this year after applying for IU Foundation grants. (Every little bit helps.)</p>

<p>Your figures seem a bit high, actually, unless you give your son a lot of spending money or fly him home several times a year. But yes, college IS expensive. No argument there! (I hope your son can work summers to help pay his share. Mine, being a music student, needs to attend music programs in the summer and thus, can't work. But, as I mentioned, he is working as an RA during the school year to help out.)</p>

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<p>Yeah, i'm not looking at those total costs. I can't do that to myself. Just try to get the money for each payment, go one payment at a time. Like Calcruzer, this was my cheapest school that offered my major. I'm finding ways to make it cheaper too, staying in housing that I only have to pay 1/3, getting the lowest meal plans, doing work-study in addition to a summer job, getting those Perkins and Stafford Loans, finding rides with friends, etc. </p>

<p>They seem to do a good job of giving students who are already enrolled and excel academically good scholarships, the B-School has a ton, etc. That could help. And you don't have to worry about your scholarship/grant going away like some schools do to students. The average GPA is around 3.2, so getting that 3.0 to maintain the scholarship shouldn't be too hard.</p>

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<p>IU was actually my son's most expensive choice. Others had better need-based aid or offered bigger merit grants. But it was the one that had the best music program for what he wants. So...sigh...we make the payments and don't complain. well...not too much anyway... :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the feedback. I agree that the way to go is to figure out the costs per semester and just work on that. </p>

<p>As far as the costs go, I've figured it out though--and the totals I mentioned ($132,000 for four years--or $33,000 per year--is pretty close to the total I'm spending). Maybe it seems high since I'm including three airplane trips per year--Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break--and furnishing the dorm (TV and bedding)--and the laptop computer and printer--and the spending money (about $200 a month). The regular fees and tuition, dorm, and meal plan runs around $28,000 per year--and this will go up $1,000 once he's accepted to the business program (see A2Wolves6's comment above). And, I guess I'm factoring in the fact that I expect tuition to increase slightly each of the next three years.</p>

<p>Still, I'm happy my son got into this great school--so the cost isn't bad from that point of view.</p>

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<p>Wait, so your son Calcruzer doesn't have to pay the $400 per semester for the business program? Is he a potential business major who isn't accepted yet into the program? </p>

<p>I don't want to pay $400 for "career services", no company is going to give a internship to a freshman or sophomore, it's stupid. I'm not even going into business.</p>

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<p>At IU, companies will give freshman internships for the summer before starting sophomore year. That's one way the school is different from others. And there are a lot of things we don't want to pay, but you're not going to find another value like this anywhere.</p>

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<p>aimhigh, do you have a link or more info. regarding this? do any of these companies have branches in Southern California (Los Angeles)? or is it just companies in Indiana.</p>

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<p>My son is already planning on working at IU as soon as he gets there. (Although, I told him to keep the total hours low until he checks out the class courseload). He's also interested in an internship next summer--either near San Jose, or near NYC where his grandparents live. So any link you can provide would be great.</p>

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<p>Sorry gents, I've been busy packing. </p>

<p>No link explaining this, but here's a link from a business student who highly recommends seeking an internship in your earlier years. She worked for four VPs of Investment at PaineWebber and found the experience invaluable.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.indiana.edu/%7Etst/Archives/volume5_issue1/summer_internship.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.indiana.edu/~tst/Archives/volume5_issue1/summer_internship.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Calcruzer...I notice San Jose. My daughter was just accepted (Fall 2007) and we live in the SJC area...which HS? Not sure how we take a conversation offline, but it would be interesting to trade some perspective. I don't think car pooling is an option...</p>