Current UCSB Students receiving financial aid...PLEASE HELP!

Paying for College
1

Apparently, the net cost in my unofficial financial aid letter is “inflated” and the actually amount i will end up paying will be less! (I heard this from someone who knows a current student)

My parents will probably contribute about 3,000. I can do work-study throughout the year and and also do the cheapest housing and meal plan so it would be lower than the 15,186 approximated way below where i pasted it. Is there any way I can get rid of the 3000 dollars added to my cost for Health Care Allowance, or the $411 for the phone bill, or the “personal expenses” whatever that is?
Please let me know if you currently attend UCSB or if you are a parent of a child who attends!
Here is the estimated cost of attendance broken down for me:

Tuition $12294
Campus Based Fees $1728
Books And Supplies $1428
Health Care Allowance $3102
Loan Fees $117
Room and Board $12,341 (TRIPLE ROOM WITH 10 MEAL PLAN- THE CHEAPEST OPTION)
Personal Expenses $1749
Telephone/Cell Phone $411
Transportation $768
Total $33938

My unofficial aid report included this:

Awards

Unofficial Grants and Scholarships $23187
Cal Grant A $12294
Federal Pell Grant $2065
UCSB Grant $5828
UC Freshman Scholarship $3000
Unofficial Work-Study Eligibility $2502
Unofficial Loan Eligibility $11232
Direct Loan Subsidized $3500
Direct Loan Unsubsidized $2000
Parent PLUS Loan $3731
Federal Perkins Loan $2001
Unofficial Total Aid $36921

My Net Cost at UCSB

Total UCSB Cost Estimate $36921
Tuition and Fees $14022
Housing and Meals $15186
Books and Supplies $1428
Transportation $768
Other Education Costs $5517
Includes Health Care, Personal Expenses, Phone Expenses, and Loan Fees
Minus Unofficial Grants and Scholarships- $23187
Equals Unofficial Net Cost= $13734

2

The way to not have a phone bill is to not have a phone that you have to pay for. For the health insurance, most schools will waive that fee if you are already covered under a plan that meets the school’s standards, for instance, a parent has a plan that you are covered under.

3

Looks like direct billed costs are about $26,000 and you got $23,000 in aid.

You can take out a loan if you need to.

Plan to work in the summer to save money for books, supplies, transportation.

Do find out if current health insurance coverage is accepted by the school.

As far as room and board costs, is that 10 meals per week? Is that going to be enough?

4

What is “unofficial loan eligibility”?

Looks to me like you have $11232 per year in loans.

That seems like a LOT of loans to me.

5

Loans can’t be official until the FAFSA is complete, matched up with taxes, etc. The Parent a plus loan and an extra $2000 in Perkins does make it a lot of loans.

Isn’t the health insurance ‘allowance’ an amount the school awards for health insurance, but if you don’t need it you also lose the aid for it? A wash in the end. UCSB seems a lot picker about insuracne than other schools. It won’t accept Kaiser, and a lot of Californians have kaiser.

You might not need the $400 for the phone, or the $800 for travel. You might be able to squeak by with less than $1400 for books. Look for places to trim your personal budget.

6

@thumper1 Does that mean that I have to take 11,000 worth of loans or that i am just eligible for it? Can’t I just work and save money + my parents can help pay and I can end up only taking about 5,000 in loans? Im really confused

7

@17lagoon Loans are optional. You can decline them and, indeed, will be asked to ACCEPT them on your financial aid award. If you don’t want them, simply decline them. And you can probably reduce your need for loans by making more money or living more cheaply. Some students live on $50 a week; others cannot make it on $200. Depends on you.

8

@klingon97 Do I have to accept/reject them before the school year or after the school year when i know whether i have saved enough money or not?

9

The loans and aid you received cover the whole COA. Like you said if you pick cheaper room or meal plan your direct billed costs might be less and then you might not need all the loans in your package.

Especially since COA also includes books, insurance, transportation and other costs, you won’t pay those to the university.

10

@mommdc So will the amount i pay to the university be different and I will be paying separately for insurance, transportation and other costs?

11

Aid: $23,187
Cal Grant A $12294
Federal Pell Grant $2065
UCSB Grant $5828
UC Freshman Scholarship $3000

Tuition $12294
Campus based fees $1728
Room and Board $12,341 (TRIPLE ROOM WITH 10 MEAL PLAN- THE CHEAPEST OPTION)

Total $26,363 payable to university

So you would owe $3,176 to UCSB for the year

If you can earn that much this summer then you don’t need to take out loans.

You will need money for books and supplies before you start school in the fall, but you can rent books or buy used.

You also can earn $2500 at a work study job during the school year.

Do find out if you need to buy the school’s health insurance or can waive it.

Sometimes freshmen have to stay in a certain dorm or have to have a certain meal plan, you can find out about that.

I do wonder if 10 meals a week would be enough if you have no way to cook.

If you don’t need loans for first quarter then you can decline them and then request them later if you need them.

12

The university will bill you for tuition, fees, room and meal plan. So about $26,000 to $29,000 depending on actual room and meal plan chosen.

Then depending on if they require you to buy their health insurance or not, that might be an extra cost payable to the university.

They will apply all your grants and scholarships (about $23,000) to your bill and you will have to pay the difference.

Then your transportation costs and books you will pay yourself.