<p>The grants/scholarships basically only cover tuition, room, and board (approx. 22k). The rest (books, personal expenses, transportation) is work study and loans (approx. 8k.).
- I know that the scholarships/grants go into the MANDATORY fees that is required to attend UCSC, and maybe even a bit from the loaned money.</p>
<p>So after that point, book fees (and personal expenses, transportation, maybe even a bit of housing) is what I pay with loans.
- Can I use the money I loaned to pay for my textbooks? If I can, does it have to be through Bay Tree Bookstore or can I receive the money and buy textbooks via online stores like Amazon?
- If I use my own money to pay for the textbooks (therefore: saving money; returning left-over loan money if any), will I get in trouble by financial aid for being able to pay for book expenses on my own? I would have to pay back loaned money anyways so I'd rather purchase items CHEAPER from the summer job I have right now. My mom is just worried that the grants I've received will be taken away if I do that. >.<</p>
<p>Help please ; ;</p>
<p>It works like this: when all the money in your financial aid package is disbursed (except work study which you get when you work) automatically goes to whatever charges are on your account (room, fees, etc). Anything left over, whether it be grants, scholarships, or loans is deposited in one lump sum into your bank account (or they send you a check if you haven’t signed up for direct deposit- I HIGHLY recommend direct deposit). </p>
<p>After you get your deposit, you can buy the books from wherever you want with the loan money or your own money. In fact, since the loan money will be in your bank account, you won’t really be able to distinguish between the “loan money” and “your money”. Or you can send the leftovers back to the loan company if you don’t need it. Basically, they don’t really care what you do with the money as long as your fees are paid up and you make your loan payments when it comes time.</p>
<p>I used some of mine to buy a guitar. Though it was irresponsible and I don’t recommend it. =/</p>
<p>When do the direct deposits occur?</p>
<p>I think FinAid begins to disperse on the 15th of September, but I might be pulling that out of my as.s</p>
<p>So if I don’t have any scholarship and loans, and my grants are not enough to cover the whole 30k, does that mean I have to buy the books using my own money?</p>
<p>Your direct deposit will be in your bank account a few days after disbursement. </p>
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<p>Well, that depends. The “30k” is just an estimate of how much money you’ll need. It covers charges that will go straight through your account like tuition and housing, and also their estimates for “personal expenses”. Whether or not you’ll have grant money left over for books and other stuff depends on how much grant money you’re getting and the the charges to your account- which can vary depending on the size of your room, your meal plan, whether or not you waived USHIP, etc.</p>
<p>But yes, if your grants are not enough to cover all of your charges, you have to pay the difference between your fin aid package and your charges, as well as any outside expenses (books, transportation, etc) out of pocket. Or you could apply for loans if you want, I guess.</p>
<p>Oh thanks, then I probably have to pay the books myself</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! (:</p>