<p>My friend is a senior in college and is enrolled in a training program, which gives her a monthly stipend. Apparently, the stipend has increased nominally and now the university refuses to authorize/give her loans (public or private), as they say she has no "unmet need" (her family can't afford to pay their ~$5k EFC, and her parents won't take out a PLUS Loan). She owes the school next semester's tuition plus a portion of this semesters and can't pay it without loans. If she drops out, she can't go back to school without repaying all two years of her stipend first, which wouldn't have to be repaid if she graduates and works for the state. The only thing the FA office will tell her is that she can NOT take out any loans, public or private, and that the balance from last semester needs to be paid within the next two weeks.</p>
<p>Can any CC financial aid gurus think of any solutions?</p>
<p>Talk to another FA officer. That one is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Private educational loans could/should be available depending on her credit. As to Stafford loans, there is no income limit. I don’t know how much the stipend is, but if it is over total COA there could be a problem there but…talk to a different FA officer. Something is not quite right. JMO, as I’m NOT a need-based guru.</p>
<p>On the surface, I agree. Loans aren’t only for “unmet” needs. They also include Unsub STafford and PLUS loans, which are neither need based. I’d like to know on what basis the FA officer is making this assertion.</p>
<p>Unless there are some odd missing facts here, this makes no sense.</p>
<p>My D. has just dealt with similar situation when she has applied to grant. She was not sure if she shuld apply or not because of her amerit Scholarships. She was told that nothing will happen automatically, she will be informaed and given an option to decline if receiving grant will not make sense for her financially. So, she has applied. We are still waiting. Her tuition is covered currently by Merit scholarships, but she was told that grant money could be used for living expenses. She does not apply for loans. Will see.</p>
<p>Yes, I don’t think we have all the facts. It makes no sense.</p>
<p>This is a very difficult dilemma for a senior to face without parental support. Since this semester’s tuition has not been paid in full this student will probably not be able to register for next semester until that is resolved which is a shame. </p>
<p>But it brings a lot of questions to mind…How much does this student need in total? Have FA deadlines been missed? Does this student have a great deal in loans already? Have funds been misused? Why does a stipend need to be repaid? What kind of stipend is that? Does this student have a job? Can a job be gotten over winter break to help pay off this semester at least? Why would she have to “drop out”–can’t she just take a leave of absence for a semester to work?</p>
<p>Maybe some type of payment plan can be worked out? </p>
<p>I think this student should meet with the head of FA. I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t want to at least try to help out a senior at this point if everything is on the up and up.</p>
<p>There have to be some missing facts or something that your friend doesn’t understand. If your friend wants our help, she probably should post here about the situation because she may know more than you know about the situation.</p>
<p>I also agree that she should talk to the head of FA.</p>
<p>I’m a little naive here, but where can a 21 year-old with no job (nor prospects) get an unsecured loan for thousands of dollars? Parent already rejected PLUS, so assuming would also reject co-signing a private loan. Also assuming that the OP’s friend has maxed out Stafford, so FA can’t do offer much more help?</p>
<p>bb, strange as it seems, a kid I know well has great credit. A $5000 private educational loan would be no problem for her. (Heck, she can put that on a card.) Yeah. I agree it’s odd. My understanding of the OP is that the friend is trying to replace the missing parental EFC with a loan.
I could be wrong. If , as you suggest, she has maxed out the Stafford and has no credit for the private loan folks…yeah. That’s a big problem.</p>
<p>It’s possible, likely probable, that she’s maxed out Stafford loans over the past 3.5 years, as she’s no parental financial support during them. Her family are ranchers,so that’s likely messed up her EFC. She’ll need about 6-7k total just in tuition/fees (around 2k for this semester, 5k for next). Ironically,if she graduates, she’ll be guaranteed a job with state (incredibly hard to fill position, hence the training grant), and her training grant would actually cover tuition if it was paid out in a lump sum, but the restrictions of the grant are that it can only be paid out monthly. She’s talked to 3 FA officers, and none of them have been any help, according to her. She sid the school won’t even let her APPLY for private loans…?</p>
<p>Did the student file a FAFSA with hers and parents info on it? If so, the student would be eligible for a Stafford loan which is in the STUDENT’s name only. ANY student who files a FAFSA is eligible for his loan…and it is not dependent on need. </p>
<p>Re: Private loans…yes, perhaps available, but it is unlikely that the student would be able to secure one without a cosigner.</p>
<p>Did this student already GET the Stafford loan and is looking for additional loans?</p>
<p>If the expected family contribution is $5000…there would be an expectation that the money would be coming from the family. But I believe an unsubidized stafford loan (which can be taken out by students who do NOT have financial need) can be used for this cost (perhaps a finaid officer can advise). </p>
<p>In any event…the school probably will not allow this student to register for classes until the bills are paid.</p>
<p>How “new” is this problem? Typically these billing issues are “apparent” when the term BEGINS…they don’t crop up as the term is ending.</p>
<p>Curm, she might have had to use the entire senior year Stafford loan amount to pay first semester bills (esp. if her parents aren’t paying their piece of EFC). </p>
<p>DH faced a similar situation his senior year – his dad had been unemployed most of the time DH was in college, and when his dad went back to work, there was a relatively small EFC, but they wouldn’t pay and that DH couldn’t cover, even by working extra hours. DH took the full Stafford (GSL back then) to meet the gap first semester and graduated a semester early because he couldn’t afford to stay any longer, even though he had a full tuition scholarship. It was the rest of the bill he couldn’t pay.</p>
<p>My head is spinning. I can’t get the numbers right. She gets a monthly stipend that is enough to pay if she were to get it in a lump sum, but she might have maxed out the Stafford first semester. So what happened to the stipend money? And how would the first semester bill still be unpaid? Something doesn’t add up for me. But then again, I was a history major so no real surprise there. ;)</p>
<p>How can the school prevent her from getting a private loan?</p>
<p>I think she needs to go back to her family and explain that they must get that plus loan for $5k (she can sign a private loan note to THEM that she’s owes them $5k and will pay them each month the amount equal to the repayment amounts). Technically, her parents would still be responsible if she didn’t pay, but they could also go to small claims and get a judgement against her if she didn’t pay them the monthly amount.</p>
<p>Since, she’ll be employed shortly, it’s not a big risk for her parents.</p>
<p>I agree, there are some missing facts, but based on just the info given:</p>
<p>If the FAO says she is not eligible for any aid that sounds like her stipend covers her COA- EFC. So, she needs EFC $, but finaid is not available for that?</p>
<p>Can she petition for an increase in the COA, many schools have specific expenses for which they will increase the COA, like a computer purchase or travel expenses, etc. Look for items in her budget which exceed the COA given, but also check for a list of items allowed, if they are public and have a list they may not be allowed to add anything else to the list even if it is logical.</p>
<p>If the stipend is actually enough to cover the $7k in tuition, will they work out a payment plan?</p>
<p>If the stipend is actually enough to cover the costs of tuition can she put the $2k on a credit card and pay it back very quickly from the stipend? Not that I ever want to encourage credit card use, but if she actually pays it back pronto and graduates into a job and does not have to repay the stipend already received it seems like a smart plan!</p>
<p>i wont even pretend to understand the loans and efc etc, but a lot of schools have a monthly tuition payment plan…does her school? if her stipend would cover it in monthly payments why cant she use that??</p>
<p>Both of my kids had Stafford loans. They were dispersed to the school for EACH TERM (and a bit after the term started, I might add). The total for the YEAR was not given to the school in the fall. Why would that ever be the case? What if the student didn’t ENROLL in the subsequent term? I believe all Stafford loans are dispersed for each TERM…and not the full year.</p>
<p>There is a huge missing chunk in this story. This student owes money from the fall term…and needs to come up with money for the spring term. ALL of this is their expected family contribution.</p>
<p>I hate to be rough but WHEN DID THIS PROBLEM FIRST GET NOTICED? My guess is that it was apparent at the start of the fall term that there was going to be a shortfall. Did this student work this past summer? Does this student have a job (other than the stipend thing)? Does the student plan to work over break? Is there a relative who might either co-sign or loan this kiddo the money on the condition that it be paid back with the stipend money?</p>
<p>Re: that stipend money…the OP description is that it will cover these costs (is that correct?). That being the case, what money would be owed from the fall.</p>
<p>And finally…this student KNEW the costs to attend and the amount of the family contribution…probably during the summer at the latest. How did she expect the money to appear? And what did she do the first THREE years she was in school?</p>