I’ve received my financial aid award letter and I have an estimated student account summary.
Here’s the breakdown:
Tuition and Fees: Fall: $12,045 Spring: $11,895
Perkins Loan Eligibility: $500 $500
Fed Direct Loan (subsidized): $1,731 $1,731
Fed Direct Loan (unsubsidized) $989 $989
Estimated Balance Due -$2563 -$2,712
Does that mean that give me $2000+ extra for a semester?
I put my total financial aid award letter on another thread and received more federal loans than it says above.
That math doesn’t really look right to me but you may be due a refund check from the college if your actual federal loans borrowed exceeds the direct charges (tuition and fees, room and board) from the university.
Is this the same college that you posted your aid package on 3/7? If so I wish you would stick to one thread, there are grants there that seem like they are not yet applied to your account. You got 2 separate letters, this one and the last one?
Yes this is the same college. No, the first letter is my actual financial aid letter and the second page is suppose to be my estimated student account somehow
Sorry, I am making this very complicated. @thumper - Yes. I’ve received $14500 in grants and scholarships for the full year and also $5775 in pell grant, $1000 for state grant and $1500 from fseog
Don’t take the unsubsidized loans. You will be getting that amount plus back as a refund. No need to take them…at all.
Next time you make a post about your aid, could you please put ALL of it in one post…all of the grants, scholarships, loans, everything. It is a lot easier to answer questions with the full picture, than getting it in dribs and drabs over several posts.
This looks like a great package but take thumper1 advice. Starting out with 6640 in loans freshman year (I assume you are a freshman) is not ideal. Hopefully living at home will help you cut back on the loans.
Always take the smallest loans necessary. If you run short, I believe can still borrow the direct loans in your FA package at a later date (in the same academic year). Hopefully thumber1 will verify this.
The student actually should be able to borrow he Perkins loan at a later date as well. Once it is placed on the award offer, it’s doesn’t just disappear if the student doesn’t borrow immediately.
If it were me, I would not assume that Perkins money will be available later, of the student doesn’t accept it now. Perkins lonas have limited finding per campus. If the student doesn’t accept that one, it is very possible it will not be available later.
The Direct Loans can be taken at any time during the academic year.
Well it is a a possibility that the money may not be available for a future year, but it will be available during the entire 2015-2016 year so the student doesn’t need to accept it this moment. If the student is concerned about Perkins eligibility they should speak with the school. It sounds like Dept of Ed is doing away with Perkins anyway, sO it may not be a future option regardless, depending on how the school is choosing to offer.
From a financial perspective, I think it makes sense to take the Stafford subsidized loan first before considering the Perkins or the unsubsidized Stafford loan. I believe right now the Stafford loan has a lower interest rate, so if I were her I would try to borrow as little as possible. The Perkins loan actually has a higher interest rate (5%) than the unsubsidized loan but since it’s subsidized she is still better off with it since it won’t capitalize while she’s in college.