<p>I have efc zero b'c I'm 25, so I get full pell and other aid at UT knoxville, but I'm transferring and refiling the app.</p>
<p>The question says?: "Are you interested in work-study or student loans (question 26)?"
and you can answer: work study, loans, both, neither, don't know</p>
<p>When I googled this, one random college's financial aid website said if you select loans, they automatically process and offer the loan money to you initially. But I'm wondering if I choose "neither" if the school would attempt to meet my aid first through more local grants like the seog before turning to loans.</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
<p>On page 157 of the 2007 edition of "Paying for College Without Going Broke," they say:</p>
<h1>26. OTHER TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID YOU'RE INTERESTED IN. You would like the colleges to come up with their best offer before you start to commit yourself. Because of this, we recommend that you indicate you are interested in both work-study and student loans. This does not commit you; you can change your mind later. This question has no effect on grant or scholarship eligibility.</h1>
<p>Schools will NOT be more inclined to give you grant aid if you check neither. Work study is not upfront money; it's earned as you go in a job. Loans are given up front & can be thus be used to pay the tuition bill ... but interest must be paid (either right away or later, depending on if they are subsidized or unsubsidized). So they are really asking you if you would prefer the money in a loan form now or earn-as-you-go ... but in reality, you will most likely get offered whatever the school would offer you anyway, based on its packaging method.</p>
<p>Schools will not give you more if you say no to loans/work study
You should request both
You can adjust the amounts, shifting some loan money to work study or vice versa when you are closer to starting school, but in filing your first FAFSA, include both to allow you the options, no one will force you to take loans or WS</p>
<p>For all of the above reasons, I thought it was better to check "don't know." That seems the least committed, one way or another.</p>
<p>In my experience as a zero EFC student, I checked that I was interested in both work study and loans. They both wound up a part of my package, but I was offered a more complete package than honestly about anyone I've yet to speak to in depth about it. They will not give you any more institutional aid to cover that gap if it exists, and if the gap does exist you'll be faced with more of a headache as to how to fill it.</p>
<p>You're not locked in to the federal work study or the loans. I've had numerous opportunities to turn down neither, either, or both, and the former was removed from my package once I received some significant outside scholarships. </p>
<p>To sum it up, experience says there is no reason not to check both. They give you options for paying for a significant gap, and their quantities are completely flexible, because you're the one earning the money/eventually paying the loans back.</p>
<p>Since I posted this I've spoken with a girl who worked in the financial aid department at my old school. She said that every year there's a "last barrel" of local grants and loans (mainly SEOG) that are for last minute aid to the highest need students. Supposedly it fills up from grants allocated to students who apply early enough but don't enroll by either turning it down or just not going. I didn't get offered these last year and she said it was because my aid was met first with the staffords and I would have had to manually apply to a waiting list where highest need students are automatically put. She also wasn't sure if this was just specific to UTK or not because it's not a Tennessee board of regents school.</p>
<p>Since I'll be working part/full time @ better pay then work study anyway, her advice was to put neither. This under the pretense that their system may work similarly and once I get my package it would be nothing more than a form and a few days to add loans to it.</p>
<p>Re: working for better pay than work/study</p>
<p>Work/study pay is not counted in your income total for future aid, while non-work/study income is. Since you will have to contribute up to 50% of your non-work/study income to your next-year's cost of attendance, it is often better to take a lower paying work/study job if you are eligible. It is a good idea to pencil out both scenarios to figure out what would be most beneficial.</p>
<p>From reading threads on CC it seems that at many schools SEOG is only awarded to students with zero EFCs. From our own experience I think it is true at my daughter's school (with a 700 EFC she did not get the SEOG, with a 0 she did). (edit - just reread your post and see that you do have a 0 EFC so your school may have other criteria also - for instance one post I read said that her school gives SEOG to students with kids).</p>
<p>The downside I could see with your plan is that some unsubsidised loans (such as the Perkins) and Work Study are items that have limited funding so if you say no to them then change your mind there may not be any left to award you. When my daughter was considering having part of her Work Study converted into a subsidised loan (Direct Stafford which I *think *is not limited funds) and we were asking for info they asked us to let them know ASAP so they could re award the WS funds.</p>
<p>Don't forget to take into account that the benefit of WS earnings is that they will not negatively impact your EFC the subsequent year. (though if the income from a non WS job is substantially higher it still may be a better choice).</p>
<p>Post back and let us know how it works out - it would be useful information for other students.</p>
<p>Willpower, I re-read my post, and it was a bit confusing. Here is an example of what I mean by pencil it out:</p>
<p>Say you are awarded $2,000 in workstudy and you get a job working 250 hours over the school year (which works out to about 8 hours a week - very manageble) at $8 per hour. The FAFSA treats work/study earnings differently, and you will not be expected to contribute any of those earnings as part of your EFC for the following year. (The reason is that it is a current year award and you need it for the current year.)</p>
<p>Say you have the option of a non-workstudy job for those same hours at $12 per hour (50% more!!!) You work 250 hours at $12 and earn $3,000. Those earnings are regular income, so when you fill out your FAFSA it will calculate that you have to contribute $1,500 of those $3,000 in earnings to the following year's EFC, and you have only $1,500 left.</p>
<p>As far as "money in your pocket" you end up with $500 more in this example by taking the lower paying work/study job.</p>
<p>In your senior year, you don't have to worry about financial aid for the next year, so you should take the higher paying job.</p>
<p>the post above is not correct</p>
<p>the student asset protection for 2008 is 3750 plus taxes.</p>
<p>Student income over that amount is assessed at the 50% rate towards the EFC. Income below that threshold is not.</p>
<p>20% of student assets are also added to EFC</p>
<p>S</a>. 1762, the Higher Education Access Act of 2007</p>
<p>Section 601 would increase the amount of the income protection allowance protected in the calculation of a students’ expected contribution in the following ways: 1) for dependent students, it would increase the amount of the income protection allowance to $3,750 for the 2009-2010 academic year; $4,500 for the 2010-2011 academic year; $5,250 for the 2011-2012 academic year; and $6,000 for the 2012-2013 academic year; and</p>