Decline loans without reducing future grant money

Hello. My question: My son has been accepted to 4 schools ranging in price with scholarships, grants and loans of 5.5K of 15K to 14K. One school he has been accepted to have him need grant money and a 5K loan bringing the price to about 9k. He would like to attend this school and we can swing it without he loan making it the same cost approximately as the other schools. We want to butdecline the loans ( to reduce his debt or not give him any) but we don’t want this held against us in the future by way of reducing his future grant awards or loan offers. We can’t foresee the future. Can we decline the loans and still expect the same (or more with increased tuition) grant award in the future and loan offers? This is a full need met school. ( we do not want to ask the school in case they note it in his file and reduce his award in the future). Thanks for any help!

Note 2 of the others were full need met as well. Just different calculators I guess

Yes, they use different calculations to determine your need. And yes, you can decline the loans. It won’t be held against you. They use the financial data you provide to determine the FA offers yearly.

Agree with the above. You do have to file FAFSA every year to access the Federal Direct Student Loans…and those are available to everyone whether they have need or not (although the sub/unsub pieces vary by level of need).

Ok so they will NOT decrease his grant award in the future if we don’t take the loans? Just clarifying. Thx

You have to reapply for FA every year. If your financial situation changes, so will your son’s FA package.

Colleges tend to increase the amount of the student contribution/self help a student is expected to contribute every year. So the amount of loans in his FA package may increase–but not due to declining this year’s loans.

You can decline the loans if you have another way to pay. You cannot get the freshman loan money after the freshman year ends (i.e., can’t borrow $5.5k plus the $6.5k for sophomore year).

Some people borrow the subsidized amount ($3.5k if qualified for the max) and bank it in case it is needed for future years. If it is never needed, he can repay it just after graduation and the only cost to him will be the origination fee paid up front). My daughter banked her final year of loan money and then had it for buying a car and moving for her first job.

So, the grant money WILL not go down due to declining the loans. I have to be sure of this.

And, how to do you get the loan money to you and not the college? My loans had always gone straight to the college or law school. Same with my husband.

No. You’re not required to take out loans to keep your grant amount. It’s just an option for covering part of the family’s contribution. But, the grant could drop for other reasons as it’s recalculated annually (at most schools anyhow).

The loan will go through the college. If you pay your bill in full, any overage will be refunded to the student.