I’ve applied and been accepted to UHV and I submitted a housing application but they require a $200 housing deposit before the 13th of January 2016. Move-in day is the 15th. I spoke with the housing office and they said that if I couldn’t pay before or on the 13th they would charge me a late fee of $25. I am totally broke and my parents don’t make much money either so im definitely not going to be able to shell out $200 within a few weeks. My EFC on my fafsa is 0 so i know I am eligible for aid. However, I do not know if I can use the money from my financial aid award towards the housing deposit. If so then how? Fafsa applications for spring 2016 are available Jan 1 and i plan on filling it out that same day. Classes start the 19 of January. Will my financial aid kick in soon enough to pay the housing deposit (if possible? Please help, I have no idea how i’m going to come up with $200.
Only your college will know when any refunds will be disbursed to you. You have to contact them. Usually the student has to come up with some upfront money and the housing deposit is usually expected, some schools will not hold a dorm for you otherwise. Are you getting aid enough to cover all your tuition and housing costs too?
What about books? Were you given any aid for books? Because that is another issue that you will nee to buy the books possibly before the refund is given. You will have to see if they will give you an account to charge books on too.
Can you get a credit card cash advance? Even at 20% interest, that’s only $3/month.
Spring 2016 federal aid is based on the 2015-2016 FAFSA which became available 1/1/2015.
Did you submit it earlier this year?
Did you receive an aid package? How are you paying for housing, tuition, room, board, fees, books?
I did a fafsa application for the Fall 2015 Semester but i was at another college for about a month before I withdrew
It might sound a little confusing but the reason I withdrew from the other college was because I couldn’t make the payments on time. They were charging me payments every month as if I was a rich student with no aid (which I didn’t have because I made a mistake on my fafsa that prohibited my aid) I found this out later. My EFC on my 2015-2016 fafsa was 0 so i know im eligible. I wasn’t receiving any aid but I’m sure ill have my fafsa right for the spring semester so I won’t these problems and be eligible to receive aid.
Log into your 2015-2016 FAFSA now and enter the code for your new school so you can get your federal aid.
Are you sure the new school is affordable?
What is the Cost of Attendance?
Only if your anticipated financial aid exceed the tuition and fees. And you allow the school to apply the “excess” financial aid on other charges, such as housing deposit.
What is UHV?
You need to submit your 2015-2016 FAFSA to,this new college NOW. The term starting in January is part of the 2015-2016 school year.
At this point, your new school doesn’t know you are eligible for financial aid because you haven’t submitted your application to them. This new school has no idea what your EFC is. None. So submit that FAFSA to them NOW.
It is unlikely that your financial aid will be straightened out before that housing deposit is due. Any chance you can borrow this money from someone?
Many schools specify that you cannot use financial aid for housing deposits. Deposits are due before the term starts, and fa is only available once the term starts.
This particular school is about 5-6000 per semester (that’s with 22 credit hours plus books and supplies). So it is quite affordable. And i logged into my 2015-2016 FAFSA and added the school code. What happens next?
When you added the school code, did you also submit?
Yes I submitted it and got a confirmation email shortly afterwards saying my submission was successful.
Contact the school to let it know that your application is ready for them to ‘pull’. I was told most schools pull a few times a month, or when they think there are apps pending. In Feb., they might pull the reports several times a week because everyone is filing, but at this time of the year it may not happen as often. ASK the FA office what to do next.
Also ask the college what to do about this housing deposit.
The Direct Loans are not usually disbursed until a few weeks after the term starts. That isn’t going to help you pay a bill that is due sooner.
Some schools will grant short term loans because the know the financial aid loans are going to come through. Ask.
Does anyone know what a PLUS loan is? How does it work? Would it be ideal for me to take out a loan to pay the housing deposit or does that not work?
See https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/plus
Does anyone you know has a credit card?
Is this school instate for you? Did you also qualify for state aid and apply for it? Make sure you notify them about the school change as well.
Also I would caution you against taking 22 credits. You want to make sure that you make satisfactory academic progress so you can keep qualifying for aid. If you attempt too many credits and then run into problems and have to withdraw from courses it can mess things up. A better use of your time would be to get a work study job or other job on campus to earn some money for your expenses. Also plan on working in the summer.
Deposits and book money is usually needed before the term starts.
Can you do some chores for neighbors or borrow the money until your aid is processed?
Are you sure that the aid you can get will cover tuition and room & board?
The school is instate and I’m not sure what state aid is. Is it different from financial aid and if so could you explain how? And I’m not taking 22 credit hours,that was just their websites tuition chart info that I was going by. I plan on getting a job or work study job during school to help pay but I’m sure the aid will cover my tuition as well as room and board. I’m not so sure about borrowing the money from someone though…not a lot of people i know actually have money to spare. That’s why I asked about taking out a loan and if it’ll work. I’ve been trying really REALLY hard to get a job these past few months and I’ve come close with call backs and interviews but no one seems to hire me probably because I have no experience and it seems like people only want to hire folks that they know. It sucks! I really want to go to college but it seems like it’s just soo much money to even get in that I don’t have.