Hey all! Entering my freshman year of college this fall, and I graduated high school last June, having taken a gap year this past year. The tail end of Senior year was plagued by medical problems, and I didn’t really have the time to focus on gathering resources for starting college independently, and now that it’s nearly July, I’m scrabbling to get everything done before the fall. Deposits are sent in, as are forms and vaccinations and the whole nine yards, but I’ve come up to a wall regarding loans.
I’m a first generation college student (first in my entire extended family at that), and my parents don’t know anything about the process. I’m eighteen as of October and having really touched my credit, and my parents both have pretty bad credit. I’ve got a few scholarships and grants, I submitted my FAFSA back in March, and there’s about 6k a year listed as what I need to take out in loans. The problem is, I have no idea how to go about getting them, and neither do my parents.
Should I be going to a bank? Are loans done by my school (Niagara University)? I don’t have a counselor to give me instruction on the matter, nor a parent or family member who knows anything about the topic, and I’m worried about walking into a bank and being guided into a biased direction and into a bad program. Any advice or insight as to where to go from here would be greatly appreciated!
Congratulations on getting into Niagara University!
On your financial aid webpage (you should have a login and password to deposit, choose classes= a tab should be dedicated to costs and your specific financial aid… ) you’ll find a way to check “accept the loans” and “accept work study”. You don’t have to go to a bank 
(If you were not awarded work study, email the university’s financial aid office and ask if they can give you a work study position since costs are a big concern. The worst they can say is no.)
@pincaustic
Does your financial aid package from Niagara include the $5500 Direct Loan already? Take that loan…as described by @MYOS1634
OR do you need an additional $6000 in loans?
Please clarify.
Tuition, fees, room and board are around $46000 per year at Niagara University.
What does your financial aid package include?
How much can your parents afford to pay each year for four years?
Just to add, once you accept the student loans they will be automatically be distributed to the school at the start of each semester.
As part of accepting the loans, you will be asked to do online Entrance Counseling counseling. After that you will need to sign the Complete Loan Agreement for a Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan (MPN), All this and more is explained at studentloans.gov.
While it might sound intimating, the process is straighforward. However, I urge you to resist the urge to rush through the process and sign. Read each page and take the time to think about what you are doing. These loans will take a long ttime to repay so take the time to understand them.
I worry about 1st generation students like the OP. I am financial aid director at a grad school, and I have had numerous students who borrowed more than they should have to get their undergraduate degree. They tell me they didn’t understand what they were doing. I like the fact that you know you don’t know what you are doing, and you are asking for help.
Please start by posting your financial aid package. Once you do that, we can help you understand your aid package. I will also post links to information that will help you understand the loans and repayment.
Hey all! Sorry for the late response, but I can’t seem to figure out a way to copy-and-paste the information without it looking like a disaster, nor can I figure out how to post a picture? So I’ve got a link to a screenshot of the awards here: https://k.nickpic.host/bLjSim.png
I’ve completed the entrance counseling and honestly, still feel fairly clueless. It provided great information on the loans themselves, but I think it’s the school itself I need to speak to, as I’m not sure if the 35k will cover room and board, meal plans, and those sorts of things. My parents can’t contribute anything over college, except maybe some money if I need food or a train ticket or anything; we’re not well off or even comfortable, and I’m just trying to do the best with what cards I’ve got.
I emailed my financial aid counselor asking about a work study program (3 years experience in fast food and 1 year experience in a library) as well as if my package covers room and board and my meal plan, and explained I’m a first generation student without much help understanding these things. However, it’s 5pm on a Friday, and I’m not sure I’ll hear back from her until next week, so I’ll have to update then on her response.
If you are living on campus, the total amount billed by the school (known as direct costs) for both semesters will be $46,210, broken down as follows: tuition and fees, $34,510 + room and board, $11,700. Your financial aid package for the full academic year is $37,445, which includes $5,500 of federal direct loans. The rest ($31,945) is grant money, which does not have to be repaid.
So, you have a gap of $8,756 to pay the direct costs for freshman year, which you must figure out how to pay. You will also have expenses that are not direct costs (don’t have to be paid directly to the school), like books, school supplies, personal expenses, and travel expenses.
