Confused about FA Package (Student Employment vs. Student Contribution)?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello again CC Community. I was wondering if someone could clarify the distinction between my student employment (which I believe is "work study"), student contribution, and personal expenses (books, supplies, travel, and personal). I really don't understand much of this and neither do my parents (first to attend college haha)</p>

<p>(1) What exactly would my and my parents' contribution be going towards (Tuition? Books and Supplies?)</p>

<p>(2) Is student employment paid back to the school (for tuition/R&B purposes or if it's just earned money that I keep for my personal expenses). </p>

<p>And also, (3) I plan on taking a part time job to pay off my contribution, but I was wondering if I'd be allowed to take on a job during NEXT summer, or do payments need to be make before the school year ends. Here's a quick overview of my package:</p>

<p>Cost of Attendance:
Comprehensive Fee: $ 57,350
Estimated Books and Supplies: $ 800
Estimated Travel and Personal: $ 1,550
Total: $ 59,700</p>

<p>Calculated Family Contribution:
Parent Contribution: $ 4,962
Student Contribution: $ 1,800
Total: $ 6,762</p>

<p>Financial Need (Cost Minus Family Contribution): $ 52,938</p>

<p>Financial Aid Award (Full Year):
College Scholarship: $ 51,238
Student Employment: $1,700</p>

<p>Total: $52,938</p>

<p>I was just wondering if my student employment is paid back to the school (for tuition/R&B purposes or if it's just earned money that I keep for my personal expenses. And also, I plan on taking a part time job to pay off my contribution, but I was wondering if I'd be allowed to take on a job during NEXT summer, or do payments need to be make before the school year ends.</p>

2

<p>The direct charges from the school, the comprehensive fee in this case I guess, will likely have to be paid at or before the beginning of each semester. This will be from the scholarship and however you and your parents come up with the difference (loan, out of pocket etc).</p>

<p>Work Study is paid to yo like any job, as you earn it. You won’t have that money in hand at the beginning of the semester, so it won’t be available to pay the fees. In most cases, students use WS for personal expenses, or save them to pay toward the next semester.</p>

<p>Also be aware that any part of the scholarship that goes toward room and board is taxable income to you.</p>

3

<p>Room + Board + Tuition + Fees minus the college scholarship and any federal direct loans you have taken out. The amount billed will be for this semester or however your college is structured. The balance, if any will be due when the bill comes this summer. If it’s a semester college usually scholarships and loans are divided in half and applied at each semester. If you have not included federal direct loans in your college scholarship you can take this out to cover any money due this summer.</p>

<p>Any difference you will have to pay this summer. Then you’ll need to get to the campus (hopefully it’s close since it looks like you are on full scholarship) and you’ll need to buy your books and supplies. You’ll need to look for a work/study job and once you start that you’ll be paid according to the college pay schedule. Those checks will be dependent on how many hours you work each week and should cover any personal needs. if you do take out a federal direct loan and the loan + the college scholarship exceeds your bill, the difference will be given to you as a check at some point (ask your finaid office when.) </p>

<p>As an example, a check just came in the mail for $29 for my son, several weeks into the summer term. He decided to take classes this summer and we told him he needed to use a federal direct loan to do that as we had not budged for it. The amount of the loan was $29 more than his costs for tuition. (he lives in an apartment so does not have college invoiced room and board).</p>

4

<p>Usually, the way it works is that you are billed 1/2 of the full year’s tuition & fees, room and board. Those items comprise the $57,350 comprehensive fee. I don’t know if that is a final figure yet since some schools have different prices for different dorms and may show you a figure using an average, and also students usually have some choice of a meal plan. You have not gotten your room assignment, nor have you selected your meal plan yet, so that figure may change. Also, you may have made a deposit for your room and for acceptance, that may reduce that figure. The other big addition to that number is usually health insurance that is usually mandatory at college. If you are covered under a policy that meets the university standards, under your parents’ policy, you have to submit the information, or you will be charged the health insurance premium as part of your cost. Whether your college as already put that into the Comprehensive fee or not, we cannot tell. As you get closer to the school year, you will get an actual bill for the first semester that will have adjustments as mentioned above.</p>

<p>The other figures are estimates only and can vary widely. If you live close to the college and you have a ride to get there, your transportation costs can be far less. If you have a good source for cheap used books or your courses are not book intensive, those costs could be less. Or more if you have to have specialized books that are not obtainable at discount or used. The same with personal expenses. It depends on your personal needs and spending habits.</p>

<p>You and your parents, however you decide to split it up will have to pay the actual semester bill when it arrives, by the due date or get late charges on it. So you will get a final figure on that when things are finalized. In that sense your Parent’s contribution is an estimate as is yours since the exact number is not calculated yet. </p>

<p>Work study is just an allotment that is reserved for you to earn IF you can find a work study job that fits your schedule. You can earn up to that much through those jobs IF you can find one. You will get paid by pay check as you earn the money. Usually the pay is $9 an hour, I believe, and you will have to report that for taxes. You will also have to report any scholarship amounts not used for tuition, fees, books for taxes for taxes this year which will be that portion of your scholarship for the first semester that did not go for those things. </p>

<p>How you and your parents split up the cost is up to you and them. The school won’t care a bit. That’s just how their calculators broke it down but if you can pay more than what they have for you, good for you. If your parents insist on paying more of your portion, then you have it a bit easier financially. You will have to come up with your part of the money before the end of the school year in most cases for both terms if you want to register for your next years classes. That depends on your college. But you should be earning money NOW for the upcoming year, and the next year’s summer work earnings should go for the 2013-14 school year. You want to be ahead, not behind. Also each year your required contribution will probably go up because colleges expect students to pay for more of their education as the move up the ladder as upperclassmen. You can also work during the school year at non work study jobs–the work study amount is just how much the school would pay you if you find a a work study funded positon. A lot of kids do both. </p>

<p>Congratulations on a great package. The only thing that puzzles me is that for you to get that kind of money, you had to have had a very low EFC and yet there is no mention of the PELL grant. Do ask the college about it, as you might get that on top of what the school has given you. Or maybe they have it included in their Grant but usually a school will list that separately. You also can take out Stafford loans. Call Financial Aid at the school about PELL and if you want a Stafford loan, you can apply for that on line. Just have your Fafsa PIN available to do that–yours, not your parent’s. The funds will go to the school, into your account by semester, but will be accruing interest as soon as they are issued.</p>

5

<p>There is only one meal plan for the school and housing is also the same for all students, so those figures won’t change for me. I’ll be living far from home (1500+ miles) so transportation may be an issue. As for PELL I know I qualify for the $5,550 amount (EFC of 00000), unfortunately the school policy states that “the overall grant will not increase if you receive federal or state grant aid” and “the student financial services will verify my eligibility for any federal or state grants during the fall semester”, which is a big disappointment because I probably would have had all tuition, room & board, and expenses paid for with federal and state aid. . .</p>

6

<p>OK, well then it should be fairly easy to figure out what cash you’ll need between the bill, transportation and books. Is there a federal direct loan/Stafford in your package? If not that is $5500 but you’ll need to talk to finaid to figure out how that would work. Generally that will go directly to the college and be applied to tuition, room, board, fees.</p>