<p>I have recently filed for fafsa for fall 2012 and the estimate for total grants that i may be eligible for was $800.</p>
<p>Which is like money to buy gum. Its little and not enough. Are their estimates usually accurate? When I go to the school, is it possible that the school will offer me more aid? And I will be living off campus, do they give more for living off campus?</p>
<p>Please help. I will much appreciate it. Please. Thanks.</p>
<p>No, schools do not generally give more money for living off campus. FA is based on a school’s cost of attendance which usually includes the cost of room and board. Some schools have the same COA whether students live on or off campus. Others may have different COAs for living on campus, off campus with parents, off campus not with parents. In most cases the off campus COA (if it exists) will be less than the on campus COA.</p>
<p>The FAFSA estimate of grants will just be for the Pell, a federal grant. You can not get more Pell than you are eligible for based on your EFC, it will be the same whether you go to a school that costs $5,000 or $50,000. (the max Pell is $5550 for people with a 0 EFC - as the EFC goes up the pell goes down). You will also be eligible for a limited amount of federal loans. </p>
<p>Whether the school offers you more grant aid will depend on the school, it’s FA policies, and whether they offer grant money from their own funds. Some schools offer only federal aid and do not promise to meet need. Others promise to meet full need but include a lot of loans. A very few promise to meet full need without loans.</p>
<p>If the estimate for your Pell Grant is $800, then you have an expected family contribution of a few thousand dollars. </p>
<p>How much will your parents contribute? How much can you contribute from a summer job and part time work during the school year?</p>
<p>Your family contribution PLUS the $800 PLUS a $5500 student loan PLUS maybe some TAP money will cover a good bit of your costs if you’re attending a SUNY or similar. You might get some work study and maybe some other aid and loans.</p>
<p>Financial aid rarely covers all or even most costs. It helps cover costs. College isn’t free.</p>
<p>What FAFSA generates is the EFC. THat number qualifies you for certain things such as the PELL if the EFC is below a certain threshhold. It also means that you are qualified for certain student loans.</p>
<p>What you actually GET is up to the school. The Cost of Attendance for any particular school is an official number the school has that is used with the EFC. IF the cost of the school is $5000 and your EFC is $4000, that means that the school is faced with $1000 of need that it can address through their financial aid funds, IF THEY SO PLEASE. They don’t have to give you a cent of their money. What most school will do in this case is point to the $800 PELL that the government provides and tell you that you can get $200 in subsidized Stafford loans. You also have unsubsidized Stafford available since you don’t “need” them but can borrow up to your COA, in this case another $4k from unsubsidized Staffords.</p>
<p>If your costs are much higher, the money has to come from the school if you have need. Some states might have funds too. NY has TAP, for example.</p>
<p>$800 is a nice grant, IMO. It covers a third of a semester’s SUNY tuition, maybe more and it is outright grant money. If you are commuting to a SUNY, that with your Stafford loans make it possible for you to cover you cost yourself, and any money your parents kick in, you can use to reduce the loans you take out.</p>
<p>Your family EFC is about 4700 per year. It seems like you’re ignoring that and just looking to the college for all funding. It looks like you’re attending a NY state school, which are pretty reasonable in cost. </p>
<p>I don’t know if your income is low enough for TAP, but if it is, you’ll get that, too.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the NY state schools are good at meeting need with INSTITUTIONAL grants, or do they rely heavily on Pell, TAP, student loans and work-study?</p>
<p>Often, student aid can only cover tuition and books. Room and board is often up to the student/family because going away to school is often optional and it’s a luxury in many cases.</p>
<p>The state schools do not tend to meet need. The percentages tell it all. Tuition is low, even at the main universities and reasonable at the cc level. PELL will pretty much cover tuition, and TAP for those who are need will cover any additional expenses so that those who are truly low income could possibly go away to school with state and federal grants plus Staffords. </p>
<p>It’s when ones EFC is such that you can’t get PELL or TAP, that you can’t go away to school unless family has the funds or you are a good enough student that the college will give you merit money. My kids all got offers from CUNYs for full tuition paid, but there are very limited living facilities at those schools and finding housing in NYC and surrounding areas is expensive.</p>
<p>SUNY BUffalo is expensive with the room and board, but after freshman year, many kids can find very cheap housing within the student ghetto to bring that cost waay down. One can usually find a job and if the student is frugal about food and other purchases, it is doable for very little, much less than COA indicates. I knew a lot of kids with small merit awards, but oddly no one got full need met that I knew. Many of the kids just worked it out by living off campus.</p>
<p>thanks a lot everyone.</p>
<p>i just applied to TAP too and when went to the tap estimator, it said that i could be eligible for about $1,200+ annually. So that will also help me.</p>
<p>And yes, i am already thinking about getting a job to pay off for my personal expenses such as food and the off campus housing electric bill.</p>
<p>At this point, it is unikely that the school itself will offer you more in grant money. You can ask and I always think those who need and want financial aid should get to know someone in that office so that when something does come up, you have someone there who knows your face. But, in general, that is about it. If this is a SUNY, and you are commuting, with the TAP and Pell, you’ll knock a thousand off the tuition and fees that you have to pay. You can borrow up to $3500 on a subsidized basis, and an additional $2k unsubsidized in your own name through the Staffords. THe less you borrow, the better off you’ll be when you get out, since a loan just defers payment. If you can get a job to pay for your living expenses, and get some money from summer work to pay for your books and other things up front, it’ll make things easier.</p>