Hello,
I am an online student, who is going to attend a state university online program, as a transfer student. Because one of my parents is prior military I qualify for a tuition fee exemption. I already filed the FAFSA, but my school is still processing them. My question is: If the COA is going to be around 6000, and my EFC is 8350, and I currently have sophomore status do I still qualify for 6000 in unsubsidized loans?
Because you have no financial need, you do not qualified for subsidized loans. You still qualify for unsub loans of $6500.
What if your COA is less than the total amount of unsubsidized loans for a sophomore? If it is 6000, does that mean I only qualify for 6000 in loans, and not 6500?
You can only get federal money up to COA. There is a set COA for loan and aid purposes that is not necessarily the figure quoted online. It can vary. You can call the financial aid office to find out what that Max COA is. It can vary under circumstances ( on campus vs off,student year status, commuter, etc)
What do you mean by this? So the college could choose to issue less than the COA, even if it is within the loan limit?
The COA isn’t what you personally have to pay, it’s set by the school and usually includes line items for tuition, fees, room and board, books, and personal expenses. If this isn’t available online for you to see, contact the school and ask them.
Oh, Ok. The COA is on there, but it’s much higher than I would pay because I have discounted tuition.
For example: the school has COA of tuition for online students who live off campus at 11,000. Tuition per semester is 4,500. It is 375 a credit hour, and they consider 12 credits full time. So the other 2 thousand I assume is for books, transportation etc…
I pay 192 a credit hour, but it doesn’t say what else. To make it clear, 6000 was for someone in my case. It’s higher for other students because they’re paying more per credit hour. I did just email the financial aid office, but I probably won’t hear back until Monday. I live overseas with my family, so I’m only paying tuition, fees, and books. Fees are included in the tuition rate. Books are separate.
The college does not exactly “choose”. There are guidelines, some required, that go into those COAs.
My understanding is that if you pay discounted tuition at a school, that discount is considered the same as what merit and fin aid are in reducing your loan limitations. A close friend does get tuition discounts for her kids due to spouse working at a university. With three in college for 2 year, they took out PLUS, and the tuition discounts did reduce the maximum amounts.
So, it’s possible that I could receive nothing in any unsubsidized loan aid? Great, I guess I’ll have to figure out what to do.
The COA calculated by the school is usually quite generous and most students try to stay well under. My daughter had enough FA to pay her tuition and fees (and a meal plan paid for by her athletic award). She still got the full loan amount each year to pay for her rent and incidentals, and she stayed well under that amount so could save a little of the loan each year. By the time she graduated, she had the entire amount for senior year saved. She had summer money and worked as a senior.
It’s certainly cheap, but I don’t qualify for any need based aid, my parents are going to provide me 5,000 for this year, so I was hoping I could get something in loans. I also, live overseas so working is difficult, as jobs aren’t always open.
Yes, it is very possible you do not qualify for subsidized loans. Likely, in fact, if you do not qualify for any aid. You may be eligible up to $5500 -7000 of non subsidized Direct loans if the COA assigned to your category of student exceeds what you have to pay. I’m assuming, that you are eligible for federal aid. It is possible that if your costs exceed the Direct Loan amounts , your parents can borrow from PLUS.
I’m American, my parents are stationed overseas as my father works for the military. I live on the base. I’m a resident of Virginia. I’m also 21, and I currently have the status of sophomore.
I know I don’t qualify for, any subsidized loans I was hoping I’d qualify for unsubsidized loans, however. I’ve borrowed previously from my other school, but I’m transferring and wanted to borrow unsubsidized loans. I haven’t maxed out my aggregate limit. I’ve only borrowed 11,000.
I guess I don’t understand why you wouldn’t? COA is 11K, you get a discount in the tuition of about $4500, but that still leaves $6500 in unmet need.
@kelsmom can you please address this?
Sample of one. When my son was a college freshman, sophomore and junior, our EFC was in excess of the cost of attendance. He took the unsubsidized Direct Loans for every year he was in college. These were used to help fund his education.
The college can’t award you more aid than the cost of attendance…but if you got not enough aid or no aid, IIRC you can take these loans to pay your family contribution…as long as your aid doesn’t exceed the cost of attendance.
You say you got NO aid. Therefore, I believe you can get the loans. Call your financial aid office and ask!
Why don’t you contact your school fin aid office? We can all guess. Given the info, looks fine to me. But we don’t know the school, we don’t know the facts. Is it an accredited program that allows access to federal loans? If all things as you say and it’s a program that is supported by federal loans, as long as you have a portion you need to pay, you can borrow unsubsidized Direct loans towards that.
I emailed them, their office is closed until Monday. The school is regionally accredited, it’s a state university. Thank you for the help, the all I was concerned about. The FAFSA is still processing, they’re priority date was May 1st.
Also, it doesn’t matter if your EFC is greater than the cost of attendance for unsubsidized loans. The loans are one way you can cover your EFC. You’re not expected to pay your EFC before being allowed to take federal loans.
Somebody, previously said that a tuition discount is considered merit aid. I was confused because that would mean a decrease in unsubsidized loans, because it is COA minus merit aid for unsubsidized loans. I understand that EFC Isn’t accounted for, what I am confused about is if I would qualify for any unsubsidized loans with a tuition discount.