I sent out my fafsa in janurary and I
know that my EFC is 0. My concern is that i wont have enough money to get a dorm which i need cause i have no where else to stay. Does fafsa pay you extra so you can live on campus?
The FAFSA is just the application form you use to apply for federal aid/used to determine financial aid at colleges. With an EFC of 0, you should have been awarded the Pell Grant. Check with your school, and ask about their financial aid package for you, too – it will be based on the FAFSA (assuming you would mention if you also had to fill out another form, the CSS Profile. Some schools require it, others don’t use it. Sounds like your school only uses the FAFSA.)
FAFSA isn’t an entity…it’s an application for federal aid.
Are you saying that you haven’t received any FA info from your school?
What school is this?
What are your annual school related costs, including housing/food, etc.
What state are you in?
Fed aid isn’t much…with an EFC 0, you’ll get a grant for about $5700. You may also get a loan for $5500.
to answer your question …the fed aid that a 0 EFC qualifies for is probably not enough to cover school costs and living expense.
I’ve already started summer term for fiu which is in florida, i was given the pell grant, and direct stafford loans but i only accepted the grant which was only given $715 because of the amount of credits im doing.
For fall term my COA should be around $6500 for tution and I need an extra $10000 just for room and board.
When you fill out FAFSA you can qualify for aid from the federal govt and also from the school (and sometimes the State.) Are you saying you didn’t get your financial aid award letter for Fall yet?
COA means all cost of attendance, at FIU
tuition & fees 6,500
books & supplies 1,400
room & board 10,800
transportation 2,000
personal expenses 2,500
Estimated costs of school when dorming = 23,200
So at EFC 0 you qualify for up to the COA in aid. However you have to see what your school is going to give you. Maybe everything, maybe nothing, maybe something in between.
You will likely get for sure, for the whole year:
Federal Pell Grant 5,770
Federal Loan 5,500
You might get some work/study and some small extra fed money. Anything else has to come from the state or the school. You should have an award on your student aid portal or by letter or both. If not call the financial aid office so you can know if you will be able to attend in the fall. Where are you staying now, anyway?
May have already used up some of the Pell if FIU considers summer part of 2015-2016.
Are you living at home and commuting for summer classes?
Do you expect to attend FIU at no out-of-pocket cost to you?
Why are you doing the summer term? Is it a requirement for enrolling this fall? Are u dorming this summer?
There’s a max amt of federal aid per year. I’m concerned you’ve already used up a chunk of it this summer.
Also wouldn’t it have been better to work as much as possible this summer? If you used $715 of the Pell already then you will have about $5,000 left and the $5,500 loan. $11,500. That barely pays for room and board and books.
You still need $6,500 for tuition. Are you from FL? Do you qualify for state aid? If you sent in your FAFSA in January were the taxes filed at that time or was it based on estimated income? Did you go back and verified the income with the IRS data retrieval tool after the taxes were filed? Were you not offered work study or additional grants?
FIU may have accepted her for the summer term. Many Florida schools do that, the student starts in the summer. Go to the FA office and have them give you a breakdown for the year, how much Pell you’ll get each semester, how much you need to take in loans, any other funds you may have (Bright Futures? it is not available in the summer, so if you qualified, you’ll get funds for the number of credits you take in the fall and spring).
You need to go in and ask.
You need to find out if you can still accept those loans you were offered for summer. You’re going to need that money for Fall.
Are you commuting this summer? If so, can you commute during the school year?
You need to go onto FIU’s online portal to see what aid you were awarded for fall.
Typically, costs are NOT covered, so you’re going to have to work a bit to pay for some of your costs.
Tax-payers typically do not fund things like room and board with free money.
I think most Florida schools consider the summer as part of the next school year, so if she didn’t take the loans for the summer, she’ll still have the full amount for the fall and spring (half of $5500). Many of my daughters’ classmates started college right after hs graduation and they considered the FA, if any, part of the next term.
OP used $700 of the Pell, so should have about $5000 left, plus the Stafford loan. Did you get any SEOG awarded? A Perkins loan? If so, you should have enough to make it through the first year with a job.
Something seems odd.
If the student was admitted to this school for summer and is attending now, then it sounds like she’s commuting. She may “want” aid to cover room and board, but likely that’s not happening…so she’ll have to commute.
Tuition and fees $6,497
Room and board $10,702
Books and supplies $1200
Estimated personal expenses $2000
The above doesn’t include travel expenses. Her remaining Pell Grant will not cover all of her tuition. Her $5500 student loan will cover the rest of her tuition, her books, and personal expenses.
There’s no funding, likely for R&B
If she has $5000 left in Pell, the $5500 Stafford loan, maybe bright futures, probably a state need based grant (based on the zero EFC), maybe a SEOG or work study? She may have enough. I doubt she’ll need $1200 for books, very little for travel, and she just needs to keep those personal expenses much lower. She needs to go talk to FA officer and get her awards straight (or look on the website and see if the awards are there).
^^True…but what’s the situation with the “summer start”? Isn’t that usually for students whose stats are below BF?
I may be totally wrong, but I thought that the summer start was to help kids “get up to speed”.
I can’t imagine why her fall awards wouldn’t be on the portal. Doesnt seem like she’s had any verification issues otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten her summer award.
No, summer starts are just summer starts. A lot of schools require students to take at least 1-3 courses on line and to attend at least one summer, so many just get it over with. My daughter’s friend started at FSU about 20 days after she graduated, and she was in the top 20 of class. Those dorms are sitting empty all summer, might as well fill them. Some are, as you said, to give a boost to students who may need extra help, but not all.
Bright Futures does not work during the summer. Period. Makes no sense with the required summer term, but that’s how it is.