<p>This is the first time I looked at my Financial Aid file. I thought I did not receive any money from FSU besides brightfutures. Heres a screenshot of what I am saying. Can anyone decipher this?</p>
<p>In addition to $3174 in Bright Futures:</p>
<p>You are getting $5350 per year as a federal Pell Grant (not a loan). You are getting $1916 per year as a grant from the state of Florida (not a loan).You are getting $1800 from the FSU as a grant (not a loan). You are getting another $750 a year in grants (not loans). Including Bright Futures you will get $12,990 in grants that will not require you to pay anything back.That totals $52,000 over 4 years.</p>
<p>You are offered loans for $4570 per year to make up the difference in the cost of attendence (COA). It means that for tuition, room, board and books, you will get PAID FOR all but $4570 per year, which will be in loans. That is about $18,000+ in loans per 4 years.</p>
<p>This seems pretty good!! If your family can swing $2000 and you can earn $2000 per year, you would not need the loans, but they made them available to you. The grants that are NOT bright futures are grants, they do not require you to maintain a certain GPA. This is unlike merit scholarships which require you to maintain a certain GPA to keep them. The numbers on these change only if your family circumstances change.</p>
<p>So basically I'm going to have to accept the loans if I can't fork out the money?</p>
<p>What if my tuition/books/room and board is paid for with my brightfutures and grants? Do I still need to take a loan?</p>
<p>If you can find a way to pay for everything you need with what they give you, you do not have to take out the loans. The COA includes extra money for incidentals, food not included in a meal plan, extra books, insurance, etc. But if you run out of money and you have no loan to access, what would you do? You might sign the papers incase you need to access extra money, but if you get buy without needing it, it is just a safety blanket in case. When you sign up for a loan of up to a certain amount, it does not mean that you have to take that much. But it would be there in case. But you could stay in the cheapest dorm, get the unlimited meal plan and not eat in restaurants at all, or stay in a dorm and cook your meals (not as inexpensive as you think and when you get tired of cooking, you tend to eat out and spend bigger bucks) and try to get by on the least amount you can.</p>
<p>I mean I'm pretty sure my Bright futures and the FSU grants should be able to pay off my tuition/books and the pell grant should be enough for my dorm. I'm not going to get a meal plan. </p>
<p>So the loans are only optional am I correct? It seemed like they wanted me to accept it. If the scholarship/grants can't pay off everything, I got enough money in the bank to pay the difference.</p>
<p>I'm confused about mine.. I think some things are missing. Currently I'm being offered an $1800 grant, $3500 subsidized stafford loan, and a $2000 unsubsidized loan.</p>
<p>I think some things are missing because for example I don't have bright futures listed on mine.. And I got the email from Florida Department of Ed. granting me my award</p>
<p>they already offered me some stuff. can they offer more?</p>
<p>It can take some time for BF to show up. Hang in there. If you are eligible for BF, it will eventually show up. You can also call and check with FSU.</p>