For some low income students travel costs are covered, I live close enough that mine are calculated as zero.
No direct loans are covered, and to be honest I don’t think I’ll need any. I’ll scrape money for first semester and if things get bad, then by second semester hopefully my mothers tax return could help.
The school calculated that your travel costs are 0? Do you live across the street?
or is that what YOU are calculating your travel expenses.
please list the COA and a breakdown of your aid.
Your mom could get up to a $2500 tax credit if you include up to $4000 of your tuition as taxable on your tax return (plus your W-2 earnings and room and board, etc. excess).
Mom2. We live two hours away from where our kid went to college…and his travel costs were also calculated as zero. I think colleges look at travel costs for distances further than a couple of hours drive.
The school calculated it as zero and I live less than an hour away.
COA-- tuition/fees: 45278
Personal expenses: 3741
Room and Board: 15381
Travel Allowance: 0
Health Insurance: 2390
Total: 66970
Harvard Faculty Scholarship: 50315
Pell: 5775
SEOG: 4000
Gilbert Grant: 2500
Work study: 3000
Also: student contribution was actually 1200. Sorry I had Yale’s amount stuck in my mind! Also work study is 3000. Once again I had Yale’s values in my mind. No wonder that woman said her package was the same and I was so confused
Do you have insurance already? thru your state or anything? (Doesn’t MA have insurance for low income?) If so, then you don’t have to buy thru the school.
Yes I do, but Harvard also gave me money for there insurance. Insurance is covered by them if I want to take it, but yes I also have MA insurance
If you don’t need the Harvard insurance plan, don’t take it. It is a taxable, non QEE amount so if you are already covered, don’t accept that award.
I think looking at your very excellent package, you need to be concerned about the outside scholarships reducing your Harvard grants. You are almost at full COA. Leaving the insurance and work study out, you have a COA of $64,580 and grants of $62,595. You also said you have a $1000 scholarship being sent to Harvard and $1000 being sent to you. You’re done. You’re at COA - and that COA includes your books and incidentals of about $4000 that you do not need to pay to Harvard (or that they’d refund to you, half in Sept, half in Jan). You can ask them, but I think any additional scholarship money you get will reduce one of your Harvard grants.
Right, you don’t want to have to pay taxes on that insurance amount.
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Harvard also gave me money for there insurance
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When you say that H gave you money for that, do you mean that there is a separate grant just for that insurance?
If so, where is that grant? Is there a separate grant that will be taken away if you don’t need the insurance (again, you don’t want to have to pay taxes on the insurance money.)
COA-- tuition/fees: 45278
Personal expenses: 3741
Room and Board: 15381
Travel Allowance: 0
Health Insurance: 2390
Total: 66970
Harvard Faculty Scholarship: 50315
Pell: 5775
SEOG: 4000
Gilbert Grant: 2500
Work study: 3000
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Also: student contribution was actually 1200. Sorry I had Yale's amount stuck in my mind! Also work study is 3000. Once again I had Yale's values in my mind. No wonder that woman said her package was the same and I was so confused <<<
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You have an excellent award from the school.
I’m not advocating taking loans…I don’t think you will need them if you work this summer, and do work study.
But if you find yourself short…you can take the $5500 Direct Loan.
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I have gotten a job. I’ll be working 43 hours a week.
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Is this for over the summer? If so, then you’ll be earning about $4500 this summer.
You have all of your college costs covered and this job will cover the costs of a “good enough” laptop with plenty left over. (don’t go overboard buying a pricey laptop…not needed).
So, what is the problem???
The problem may be that dancelance has friends with excess scholarship money beyond COA and he/she wants more - to cover the work study component (and income tax)?
Okay, let me clarify, health insurance was included in my COA as listed. Bundled in the general aid–not specifically enumerated is money to cover the health insurance. My FA officer said just to let Harvard know if I don’t need it, then apparently it will be removed and my aid recalculated. So if I take two insurance plans, since my state plan is sufficient, will I get taxed if this money is part of my COA?
Yes I’ll be working a summer job.
Also I will NOT disclose cash scholarships, yes it’s unethical, but you have to play the game to survive. My friends in college told me so.
And @twoinanddone once again there’s the scholarship provision where you can cover self help and up to 2000 for a laptop reimbursement before your Harvard grant is reduced. If I have scholarship money to cover up to 6200, which essentially will get refunded to me as a check, will I still have to pay taxes? I’m technically not over COA if I use scholarships to cover books and personal expenses?
So you plan to be dishonest and commit tax fraud by not reporting the cash scholarship(s) paid directly to you to Harvard and the IRS, or only plan to be dishonest (you DO plan to include cash scholarships on your tax return)?
My opinion of Harvard students just dropped…
@Madison85 what do you mean income tax? Will I have to pay income tax on my summer job? Or in general? And if I do get enough scholarships to cover the 3,000 in work study, just to be clear will I pay income tax on the 3,000 in scholarship money.
And I guess the crux of this thread was I know plenty of friends who are way over COA and literally got 5,8,10K single scholarships so I’m wondering if I am sorely underfunded and will have to struggle. Will those people reap the full benefits of those scholarships, or did I do something wrong?
You asked if you will still owe taxes if your financial aid refund is just $6200 over COA: I have explained this numerous times but you still seem unclear. The taxable amount is not the excess of scholarships, grants over COA, it is the excess over QEE.
You need to read chapter 1 of IRS Pub 970. I know it appears daunting but you can get through it. Scholarships/grants in excess of QEE(tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies) are taxable income to the student. Note that QEE does not include room and board and other components of COA. You will need to add any other income to that amount. You will get to subtract $6300 from your total income and will owe taxes(probably 10%) of the remaining amount. So you need to plan for this.
Taxes go by the tax year, not the school year. So it depends on whether Harvard bills your expenses and credits your scholarships/grants for spring semester in December or January whether you will have 1 or 2 semesters to report for tax year 2015.
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So if I take two insurance plans, since my state plan is sufficient, will I get taxed if this money is part of my COA?
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YES…just because it’s part of COA doesn’t mean anything. Room and Board grants are ALSO subject to tax. The only things that aren’t subject to tax is grants for scholarships, fees, and books.