Okay. So I received my bill from my college. It says I qualify for $5,500 per year in “unsubsidized direct loans” and $2,000 per year in “additional unsubsidized direct loans.” I am an freshman undergraduate dependent student. I thought my limit was just the original $5,500? The additional $2,000 actually helps me a lot, but I’m concerned it could be a mistake that it’s on my bill. Any tips? I wanted to ask here before I contacted my school’s financial aid office.
The only people who can give you a definitive answer and correct it is you were awarded in error is the financial aid office. Please call them first thing in the morning especially if they overawarded you .
Well I was mainly asking if the federal rules on this have changed nationwide and I just didn’t realize it. It’s Sunday, so I can’t call financial aid until tomorrow anyway. Figured I would try my luck here first.
The direct loan (stafford) is capped at 5,500. However additional Perkins loans are sometimes available and they have favorable terms. If the loans labeled? Possibly mislabeled?
It doesn’t label anything as Stafford or Perkins. I’m attaching two screenshots of my bill from my school’s online portal. It doesn’t give much info.
I wonder if your school somehow has mistakenly classified you as a junior or a senior, as 7,500 is the maximum a jr/sr student can borrow.
I did dual enrollment as a high school student, and I’m coming in with a full 60 credit associate’s degree. Perhaps that’s how? However I never applied as a transfer student. I was accepted as a “first time in college” freshman.
It looks as if your school has given you junior status based on the fact that you have an associates degree
My school classified students as freshman/sophomore/junior/senior based on the number of units they had (transferred from a community college or through AP credit), regardless of whether they applied as a transfer student or an incoming freshman. Perhaps yours does as well.
That would be awesome if that’s the case! Gives me the flexibility to borrow more if I need it or less if I don’t. I’m going to call my financial aid office tomorrow to see if this is what happened.
Just realize that there is a cap per year 7,500 for jr and sr, and there is also an overall cap of 32,000. 7,550 x 4 = 30,000 so you will be okay if 4 years is your total attendance. You will not have funds to go over a semester.
I only plan to stay for three years since I already have so many credits already.
Also, my parents are in the process of getting divorced now, so I should get some PELL grants / grants from financial aid next year that I didn’t get this year (household income is dropping from $140k to $35k.) so hopefully I don’t have to take out loans in any subsequent years.
But thanks for all the info 
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household income is dropping from $140k to $35k.
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Because your mom’s income is dropping so much, she may be awarded some “spousal support”. Also, are there any younger kids in the household? If so, she’ll get child support for them.
It’s actually my mom and step-father getting divorced, so he’s not paying child support or anything. His children went with him and I went with my mom. It’s not 100% final yet, so I’m not sure about all of the financial details, but I’ll more than likely get more aid next year.
Ahh…Yes, that would be different. And, if your mom hasn’t been married to him for a long time, then likely no spousal support.
that’s a huge drop in income for your mom, though. I hope she’ll be ok.
If your mother is now separated (and the household income has dropped) then you should apply for special circumstance review for this year. You may qualify for Pell for this year too.
I will call financial aid today when they open to inquire about both my funny loan limit and figure out how to apply for special circumstances. I had a friend tell me that she applied for special circumstances after her dad lost his job (which was the sole income to the household) and she got her entire year paid for by the government and college. I’ll check it out!
Can you see your status in your school’s online portal? If it’s junior or senior, the $7500 is correct. If it’s still freshman or if it’s sophomore, there was a mistake made. The place I would suggest beginning is the Registrar’s Office if you have questions … they can confirm your current class standing.