<p>My friend applied for fafsa, and received an estimated aid of about $11,000. She thinks that she can live at a community college and live on campus with the 11,000 aid. Her tuition is 4,500 with books and the on campus housing is 2,700 a semester. So it would be about 9,900 with everything included. Is it possible, even though her EFC is 00000, to just blow 10,000 at a community college and get a grand back? She is considered a dependent, and it's her first semester. I'm just in shock that fafsa just gives her a check for all the extra money minus the 3,800 for just tuition.</p>
<p>The amount of aid will be limited by the cost of attendance at whatever school she attends.</p>
<p>FAFSA does not give out any money at all. It just produces the EFC on which schools will base aid. It is the schools that will actually make the awards using the EFC and their COA. The numbers quoted on FAFSA are just estimates of possible eligibility, not the money that will actually be awarded.</p>
<p>The maximum Pell is $5550 for a school year. The $11000 sounds like a combination of the Pell and a loan for $5500 (the maximum direct loan is $5500 for a freshman). The loan will have to be repaid in the future. And, as I said above, the total amount can not award the cost of the school. So if the COA at the school is $9900, she will not be awarded more than $9900 (including all aid, loans, merit money etc).</p>
<p>Thanks for your help, it’s also my first time applying for fafsa for the fall 2013 semester and I’m attending a four year college. But back to my original post, so the fafsa will cover the housing at a community college? I just find it weird because it’s a college for the community and that person should have to commute or pay the difference. I feel that just because she qualify’s for all this money, that she feels she can just max it out. I’m happy with whatever I receive and there are people out their that need the money more then she does. She has a nice house to live in within 20 minutes of the college.</p>
<p>Again…FAFSA isn’t giving her any money. FAFSA isn’t giving her any checks.</p>
<p>She’s getting a 5500 federal grant from the US Gov’t. She’s also getting 5500 in a LOAN. So, that 1000 she’s getting back is borrowed money.</p>
<p>And, yes, she should just commute. Instead she’d taking out a LOAN (not free money) to cover much of her room and board. She’s only getting 5500 of free money. </p>
<p>When it comes time to pay back those loans, she’ll realize how foolish she was when she had a nice home that she could have commuted from. </p>
<p>again, much of that money is a LOAN. Not free money.</p>
<p>Yes, if the school’s COA includes an amount for room and board (which it will if they have dorms) then financial aid can be used for it. </p>
<p>If accepts the loans, she will be paying for it, with interest, sooner or later.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help guys, you answered a lot of questions for me.</p>
<p>Blewjay, a student with a zero family EFC can get up to $5600 of PELL grant money. He can also borrow $5500 from Direct loans. Both of those guaranteed amounts are from the federal government and are usable towards tuition, fees, housing, board (food), books, transportation, and living expenses (toiletries, supplies, sundiries, etc). The MAXIMUM a student can get in financial aid is based on the college’s Cost of Attendance (COA) which is an official figure(s) that each college submits to the government as the average cost for a student to go to a specific school. Tuition, fees, on campus housing are fixed and determined by the college itself, but other figures are composites’ and some students can “beat” the numbers by living on less–cheaper off campus housing, frugal meals, renting or borrowing books and scrimping, leaving excess funds. Or those expenses can end up more for some students, and they have to come up with the extra themselves. </p>
<p>Financial Need is defined as COA minus EFC, for FAFSA purposes which is what drives the financial formulas. That COA comes from the college itself, as I stated, and colleges will often have different COAs for different circumstances. A commuter living with parents will have a different COA than one who is living in the dorms on campus, for example. Sometimes a composite COA for those living on their own off campus is also given, with different numbers that the one used for on campus. On campus COAs use the average dorm room with a certain board plan. </p>
<p>So someone who lives on his own and goes to CC with an official COA that is under $11100 for the year, can pocket the money. Remember, as others have said, that half of that is borrowed money that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy–it’s money owed to the federal government and they will collect it. The unsubsidized part (and maybe from now on the subsidized part too) accrues interest at nearly 7%. The subsidized part of $3500 does not accrue interest until graduation, but for the unsubsidized portion the meter starts as soon as the funds are released. </p>
<p>For independent students and those who have a parent declined by PLUS, an additional $4K can be borrowed. </p>
<p>Be aware that in 4 years, borrowing the maximum Staffords puts you in debt to the tune of $50K or more with the interest rate NOT a bargain. That’s a huge monthly payment for a very long time, and unless you are in some field and area where there is high job demand for your degree, and the pay is pretty danged good, that’s one nasty monkey to have on your back. When you enter the work world, there are a lot of costs to working, like needing a car or transportation money, clothes, living expenses, insurance, taxes, and owing $50K that is blipping up on that interest rate is a tough load. </p>
<p>I have seen many kids borrow for that sleep away college experience and it is a huge downer to have to move back home after college while finding a job that pays enough to move back out again. Throwing in that monthly nut of loan repayment makes that process much longer most of the time.</p>
<p>I understand the confusion about “applying for FAFSA” and see it alot. You “submit” a FAFSA form to determine your Expected Family Contribution (a misnomer if I’ve ever seen one). It should be called a Government Aid Index or something like that. It would quit confusing students and parents that they should expect to pay a specific (often much lower amount) for their college education.</p>