<p>We are confused. My oldest daughter got her award letter today from school. She will be aj unior. Because we will now have 2 in college she qualified for a small pell grant for next year. Well, that is all they gave her, no work study, no loans, nothing but an $1100 pell grant. Last year without a pell she got perkins and stafford loans, plus a state grant. Our efc last year was almost double what it is for next year. How can this be right that she can't get loans? Without loans she simply can't finish school. She is in a panic, I told her something must be wrong and not to panic yet, and to go into the FA office at school and find out what the heck they are doing. I think/hope they just messed up. What do you think?</p>
<p>Sounds like a mistake. SHe should qualify for Staffords for sure. Probably the state grant as well, unless the state cut the program. Definitely check with the FA office.</p>
<p>I agree. Sounds like a mistake.</p>
<p>Did she actually get an award letter??? Where I work, we have not yet packaged returning students. However, because the software we use automatically puts the Pell grant on the account, our Pell eligible students have Pell grants on their accounts … and nothing else. They are NOT awarded yet. I bet that is the case for your D.</p>
<p>I am glad everyone agrees with me that it is a mistake. Yeah, it is an award letter. She got an email telling her to review it and accept it within 15 days. I told her I thought that after they finished her verification for the pell and applied it that it either automatically went out or that someone goofed and sent it out by mistake. A friend of other daughter’s that is doing to this same school also got an award letter with no loans. She is the oldest in her family and I guess they are all freaked out wondering how they can pay for school with no help. Poor people. I at least knew enough to figure it was a mistake because this is our third year for FA. Thanks.</p>
<p>My daughter emailed someone in FA today. It was forwarded to two different people, one said oh, that went out in error, don’t worry, and the other one, the head of FA went off about her work study she had in her freshman year being wrong and how he was going to change it on her Fafsa this year. It wasn’t wrong, he’s just an idiot and doesn’t seem to understand that the semesters don’t fall perfectly with the tax year, and she got paid the first of every month for pay periods that ran from the 19th- 18th. In 09 she only had earnings that fell between Sept 1st and Nov 18 and the full amount of the work study for the semester would not actually be paid until Feb 1st. The numbers we used were absolutely correct. I can’t believe I have to explain this to the head of FA. I emailed him back and have now dug out a copy of her w2 from 2009 showing how much she made in 09 and he can hopefully do simple math and subtract the earnings in 09 from the total work study number to arrive at the work study amount for 2010. I then went on to say but back to the point of my original email, I want to know about loans, not work study, and I would like you to tell me if I am going to get any loans awarded to me or should I start applying to other colleges that are willing to give me loans so I can pay my tuition. They took away her work study for this year and she was never given a reason why-she asked this guy. Now I understand why he couldn’t give her an answer-oh my gosh but he’s stupid. Hard to believe, and sad, that he’s in charge of kids financial aid. So anyway, a visit into the FA office today, and several emails and we have 4 different answers ranging from you put your work study down wrong on your fafsa and I have to change that, to you don’t get any loans if they aren’t on there, to oh yes, there’s a mistake for sure, to I don’t know, let me ask someone else. She said to the lady in the office does it make sense that I qualify for a small pell grant, and have remaining need even after our efc ($4xxx) of $13,000 and you won’t give me a loan? She said if I am so poor that I qualify for a pell than how do you people expect me to come up with $13,000 all on my own. Very frustrating indeed. She’s considering transfering anyway, and this has about sealed the deal. Every year we have problems that we never get answers to. It is pretty common knowldege among other departments that the FA office is a nightmare to deal with and no one knows what they are doing. Every year they mess up her scholarships-scholarships that the school is giving her and she has to make countless trips in there to get them applied. They show up but they don’t deduct them from her bill. I am so glad my other daughter is goig to a different school. They can’t all be this bad.</p>
<p>Our FA awards are out of whack this year. Everything was really late. then they posted the ongoing scholarships. A few days later they posted the small State grant with a notation that they don’t actually yet know if the grant will be funded next year, and it will be July before that is known for sure. No federal money at all has been posted so far - no Pell or loans (which we expect to see) and no SEOG or WS (which we are hoping for).</p>
<p>Our FA department is actually usually very efficient and very helpful. I am wondering if this is because of all the turmoil with them not knowing what is happening with federal aid with all the budget arguments.</p>
<p>That may very well be but if that is the case then you would think someone in the office would know that they are sending out incomplete or inaccurate award letters, heck, you would think EVERYONE in the office would know that. Instead out of 4 people involved at this point only one has told her this can’t be right. One said flat out, well if the loans aren’t on there then you don’t get any, one didn’t know anything, and the other, the head of the blasted department doesn’t even know how work study works at his own school and has probably already adjusted her fafsa because he thinks she lied on it. 30 years ago I worked in a FA office as a work study student. I really enjoyed that job and was a good worker so they trained me to do a lot more than work study students probably should have been doing. A lot has changed since then but I think I know more still than these people do-thank god for that. I feel sorry for the people who don’t know anything about financial aid. How many are getting screwed by this office and don’t even know it. My other daughter has a friend who will be a freshmen next year. On her award letter all she got was a $1000 loan-that’s it. My daughter told me that and I said well that can’t be right. These people make less than we do and her aid package should have been significant. This poor kid is in a panic thinking she isn’t going to be able to go to college because they don’t have $15,000 to pay for it and they won’t give her more than $1000 in loans. I told my daughter to tell her to get her butt into the FA office and find out what is going on. That was before we got ours. You would think that if inaccurate award letters are going out maybe a mass email saying hey, everything is messed up this year. if you get an award letter that doesn’t make sense rest assured we are working on fixing this problem. But no, instead no one in the office seems to even know there is a problem.</p>