Hi, I was admitted to USC for the spring 2016 semester last year. I was dead set on graduating/walking in the spring 2017 commencement, so I decided to take summer classes. However, USC doesn’t really offer a lot (or well any) grant aid in the summer. I was able to get a summer pell grant last year because I didn’t attend the fall 2015 semester, but otherwise, I really had to rely on loans.
I recently found out that I was denied the PLUS loan this summer because I’ll be 24 in October. However, I’m a bit confused. If I’m going to be 24, shouldn’t I have been denied the PLUS loan when my mom asked for it the most recent spring semester as well? I was able to take it out then, so I was hoping I could use it again to finish off my last semester. Anyway, it really caught me off guard. What other options might I be able to explore? Do you think it would be silly of me to ask the financial aid office to reconsider? Since they did award me the PLUS loan for spring 2017.
Thanks for any help. I’m quite worried that I’ll have no way to pay off what I owe and possibly not have my diploma mailed out. USC doesn’t even seem to offer payment plans for summer classes, so I really don’t know what to do.
For undergraduates, the PLUS loan is a loan that is given to a parent of a dependent student, not to the student. If someone was denied the loan, it was one of your parents, not you. The issue may be that you will no longer be a dependent student once you turn 24. The rules are not set by the school’s financial aid office; the PLUS loan is federal loan and the school must administer the program according to federal regulations.
Basic information is available here:
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/plus
@BelknapPoint Sorry, I suppose I did word things a bit funny. I did look at that site and that’s what confused me. Going by the graphic they have, I would assume that my mom shouldn’t have been able to take out the PLUS loan in January since 2017 is the year I turn 24. USC’s financial aid site also says that the 2016-2017 award year lasts until June 30, 2017 so I just find it odd that she would be able to take out the loan five months earlier, but not now. The PLUS loan is pretty much the only loan that my mom is able to qualify for. Her credit score is in the low 500 range; it’s limited but she doesn’t have anything “adverse”/bad, so I assume that’s why she passes the credit check. With that score though, I really doubt she would qualify for a private loan and nobody in my extended family has decent credit, so a co-signer probably wouldn’t help much. I’m just not sure what other options we have to explore. She applied for the PLUS loan in early May, so I don’t know why they didn’t just automatically reject it if we didn’t qualify anymore.
If you are an independent student…you would qualify for additional Dorect Loan money. If it’s your senior year…I think the additional amount is $5000.
@thumper1 They had offered me about 2K more in Direct Loan money the first time they prepared my financial aid package, but then for some reason they took that away. I’d still have a balance of about 10K even if they decided to offer that again, I’m really not sure how to come up with that money though without some type of installment plan being offered; 5 payments of 2K would be doable for us, but not the whole amount at once. The financial aid office even told me this is my last semester of financial aid eligibility (I was only two classes shy of my degree and assumed the fast-paced summer semester would be better than coming back in the fall when I’ll actually be 24), so I really thought they would help me out.
@kelsmom
So if this student goes fall term…can he get the full Direct Loan for fall term since fall is bins last term? That would
be $11500 or so…right?
Assuming he hasn’t used his aggregate amount.
And is this affected by his indeodent status now?
@JDotOperator
How much does each course cost? Can you take one this summer term while working full time…and take the second one in the fall?
In addition, if you are only taking one or two courses…your loan amount will be prorated…you wouldn’t get the full amount if you aren’t attending college full time.
@thumper1 Each unit is around $1,400 I believe. Right now I owe them 14K (well 10K after what direct loans they offered me), but a little bit of that comes from stuff like a student health fee and that fact that I was charged two months of interest while waiting to find out about my aid. I enrolled in 8 units this summer and have almost completed one course - a financial aid counselor I spoke with this week was shocked that I had not heard about my aid yet. I wouldn’t necessarily have anything else to complete in the fall. I was also informed that this summer semester is my last semester to be considered for financial aid, but it’s not like they offered me any grant aid anyway. I’m just concerned that I’m not going to get my degree mailed for quite some time if they don’t offer me any additional loans; they already have a restriction on my student account.
Also, I just found this on USC’s financial aid site.
http://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduates/continuing/special-circumstances.html#/5
Is it extremely outdated? It says 26 is considered independent! I’m just a bit confused because I thought actually being 24 would make me independent and not 4 months before. I also assumed the PLUS loan application would automatically have calculated my age while my mom applied for the loan and would say I wasn’t eligible. It probably won’t work, but I definitely plan on going to USC’s financial aid office on Monday because the loan seemed to be in-process for over a month before they said I was ineligible.
If you are going to be 24 THIS year…2017…you are considered independent for financial aid purposes.
@thumper1 That I understand, but that was also the case in January when my mom applied for another PLUS loan. I was still going to be 24 in 2017 five months ago. Doesn’t make sense to me.
I think it’s because it is different FAFSA school years. January was part of the 2016-17 financial aid year, and you completed that form in 2016 when you a dependent. The Fall 2017 semester is part of the 2017-18 FAFSA year, and you are now independent. If the school closes the financial aid year on June 30, summer might be counted as part of the next financial aid year, so summer 2016 was part of the 2016-17 financial aid year and you got a Pell grant (which seems strange if that was the only one you ever received).
Go to the FA office with all your documents and have them map out your eligibility for you. How do they count summers? Are you a full time or part time student in the summer? Next fall? You need to be at least half time to qualify for FA. Are you at least half time? Keep asking questions until you understand.
@twoinanddone That would certainly makes sense, but summer 2016 was included in my financial aid summary for the 2015-2016 financial year; I had two tabs on my 2015-2016 summary “spring 2016 and summer 2016”. The first summer session classes start on May 12th and that’s quite a bit before the June 30th cutoff of the financial aid year. I got the Pell Grant in summer 2016 because I didn’t attend USC for the fall 2015 semester. Their form for summer grant aid states that’s the only way you can get a summer Pell Grant - if you didn’t get one in the fall.
6 units is considered half-time for the summer and I’m enrolled in 8. I really want to go over with documents/print outs of their own website because it isn’t really clear. It’s like “Yeah, even though your summer classes started on May 12th, we’re counting them as part of the next financial aid year that starts July 1st 2017 even though that’s not what we did last year for your summer 2016 classes”.
No, if you started in May and the 2016 summer was in the prior FA year (which is normal), I think the June 30 date is just the deadline to apply for the prior FA year (or for the school to disburse the funds). This summer, 2017, is likely part of the 2016-17 financial aid year. The fall will start your new FA year.
I think you are getting a Pell grant in each semester. Most students do ‘use up’ the Pell grant half in the fall, half in the spring so there is nothing left for summer. I think that’s the position you are in now. Look at your FA award from the fall and spring. Is there a line for Pell grant?
It is likely there is nothing left for the summer from your 2016-17 financial aid pot. That happens at MANY schools, to many students receiving FA. My kids use all their aid in the fall/spring, so haven’t been able to take classes in the summer. If they went in the summer, we’d have to pay 100% for it out of pocket as they have no grants or scholarships left for the summer. If a student hasn’t borrowed the entire amount of the direct loan, that could be borrowed for the summer.
It sounds like you used all your FA for 2016-17, so didn’t have anything left for this summer and that’s why you were denied. For the fall, you will be an independent student and YOU might qualify for an increased direct loan if the number of credits qualifies. You might also qualify for a Pell grant, but again only if you are taking enough credits. It sounds like you were offered the extra direct loan, which for a senior would be $7500 plus $5000, but only half for each semester, so $2500 extra. If you aren’t registered full time, it will be less.
@twoinanddone Yes, I’ve received a Pell Grant my three non-summer semesters at USC (spring 2016, fall 2016, and spring 2017). Since I was a spring 2016 admit, that’s definitely why I had access to a summer Pell Grant and summer Cal Grant that summer semester (I didn’t get them for fall 2015). You’re right that I did use up that Pell Grant funds for the 2016-2017 year. Aside from the summer pell and cal grant, USC is the same way. They don’t offer university grants and basically make students pay 100% of the tuition costs. This is why I was relying on the PLUS loan. If they don’t really reconsider their decision (since I still find it odd that they seem to be considering this summer 2017 as part of the 2017-2018 school year and thus are labeling me as independent). I certainly don’t think I’ve utilized my Direct Loan limits because USC covers almost my entire tuition during normal semesters, but I really didn’t want to come back for the fall semester just for two classes when I can finish them in six weeks during the summer - and I wanted to participate in this year’s commencement as I mentioned. Sounds like I might have been in a better financial position if I just waited. Nevertheless, the FA office is stating that this is my last semester I can apply for financial aid as I will have completed my degree requirements; I just won’t have the money to pay for the classes I took by the looks of things =\
“THEY” is NOT USC. USC does not administer or disburse Parent Plus Loans. The university can NOT alter the eligibility requirements for this loan. They just can’t. It’s not THEIRS to alter.
@thumper1 It seems like they do have some level of control. If USC goes by the 2016-2017 FASFA information, I would be eligible. If they go by the 2017-2018 for the summer session, I’m no longer eligible. I just want to see what they say given my experience with last year’s summer session. If USC verifies that summer falls under 2017-2018, then yeah, I’m out of luck I guess.
I found this on the USC website for summer aid:
Please Note: Federal Direct Loans are available on a limited basis for summer study. The following students may have some limited eligibility:
-Students who have not already borrowed their full 2016-17 academic year loan eligibility.
-Students who will graduate at the end of the summer 2017 or fall 2017 semesters.
-Students who will advance from freshman to sophomore status at the end of the spring 2017 semester.
-Students who will advance from sophomore to junior status at the end of the spring 2017 semester.
Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan
For parents of undergraduate students.
Submit a completed online Summer Loan Request Form to the Financial Aid Office and apply for a Parent PLUS loan at studentloans.gov.
Judging from the info online, I assume summer is part of the 2016-17 award year. I also see that parents can apply for a Parent PLUS loans in the summer. I don’t understand why your Parent PLUS loan was denied, to be honest. If summer is part of the 2016-17 award year, your dependency status for the 2017-18 award year is not relevant.
The only thing that might be coming into play is this: “Students who will graduate at the end of the summer 2017 or fall 2017 semesters.” It’s possible that USC uses the 2017-18 award year for students in this situation, because it is most likely more beneficial for the majority of students in this particular situation. For you, though, it would not necessarily be better … the school would have to prorate your loan based on the number of credits you are taking, since it would be your last semester of undergrad in the first half of the loan period. Using 8 credits, that means you would only get (12,500*8 credits in final semester)/24 in academic year = $4,166 for the semester.
Talk to a manager … there should be someone who can look critically at your situation. That person can determine if you might be eligible for Pell, and if necessary, possibly make a professional judgment decision to allow the use of the award year that is best for your situation. I am sure USC’s goal is to help you graduate. Call or visit, and if necessary, request that you be connected with a manager.
@kelsmom Thank you. Yes, I found that as well and I’m hoping the part that says “students who will graduate at the end of the summer 2017 or fall 2017 semesters” will help me out with more direct loan eligibility if they ultimately decide to not offer my mom the PLUS loan. Your calculation for my current direct loans is spot-on. They offered me around 4K and that leaves me with a balance of 10K.
I reached out to the customer service number on StudentLoans and the woman I chatted with said that if my summer session started in May, then it should definitely be part of the 2016-2017 year. If the people offering the loan say I should qualify, I don’t know why USC cancelled the PLUS loan either.
I stopped by the financial aid office today - right when it opened. I told the financial aid counselor that I received an email saying that my PLUS loan was cancelled because my dependency status changed and that it made me no longer eligible. She said there was absolutely no record of that on her end and regardless, it was completely incorrect; I should qualify as dependent. She just said that if I didn’t pass my classes for any reason and/or had to take more in the fall, then yes, I would be independent as of the fall semester. I have my fingers crossed. It sounds like maybe it was an oversight/mistake on their end.
The folks at StudentLoans are giving you general answers, so you can’t depend on their advice as being what your school will do. But you did the right thing in stopping by your school’s financial aid office - they are the ones with the ultimate say in how your school’s policies work & what you need to do if you have issues. Follow up with the counselor who helped you to make sure everything gets set for your Parent PLUS loan, and all should be good.