<p>Something that would be interesting to know about these new FSU FA awards is how exactly FA office divvied up limited money like FSEOG, work-study, Perkins loans, first generation grants, etc. to the most needy students for 2012-2013. I remember reading somewhere that FSU FA office was not doing “first come-first served” (FAFSA filing date) anymore, but was now going to use whole pool of students and disburse awards to most needy regardless of when they applied for financial aid (FAFSA app). So what I’m getting at is maybe some needy students got say maybe FSEOG grant and not work-study or the reverse, but not both, so the awards could be spread out more for the whole pool of most needy financial aid applicants for 2012-2013 academic year. </p>
<p>FSU students have more need than FA office has money to award; I’m sure FSU FA did the best they could to try to help everyone as best as they could with limited resources.</p>
<p>What I just don’t understand is that almost everyone my daughter talked to yesterday said they got $5-6K MORE this year than last in grants. Our EFC was lower this year than last and she didn’t even get the “renewable” First Gen grant when we filed our FAFSA on 1.1.12 (according to CARE this was still done on a first come basis but who knows really) while incoming freshmen that didn’t get it last year got it but that’s not “renewable.” I think I’m MORE upset about some of her peers that are coming back saying they got all these additional grants they didn’t get last year while she is missing at least two grants (and got a much smaller amount of the same grants they did give her this year) that were supposedly renewable. At the end of the day, all of this can be patched together with loans but I just hate it when she has three more years (to complete her Masters) and costs are just going to keep going up and with her program I’m not even sure how her graduate expenses are going to be…ugh. I have to stop thinking about it since there is apparently NOTHING to be done about it. Pasbal, if you hear anything encouraging about the Differential (which is missing from our package as well) please put out the word. Thanks!</p>
<p>who do they give the first generation grant to?
obviously first generation students, but do they base it off academics, financial status or what?
I thought I would get it but I didnt</p>
<p>Avenged - you can only get it if you are admitted through FSU’s CARE program (I don’t remember if you have said on other threads you were). It’s a matching grant ($1500 from FSU, $1500 from federal governemnt). The federal government only gave FSU enough funds to issue 9 First Generation Grants across the entire CARE organization (~360 students times 4 or 5 years). So, almost no one got it - I think Jossie did. But my daughter had it last year, it’s supposedly renewable (first come, first served and we did FAFSA on 1.1.12 before going to bed from NYE) but my daughter did not get it even though she had it last year and I know that new incoming freshmen did get it, which makes their grants new, not renewed. So, I’m just confused about the whole thing. Madness ensures…trying to figure this out even though I continue telling myself to stop dwelling…</p>
<p>yeah I’m in the CARE program. That’s strange. I applied and did all my paperwork as soon as I was accepted in December. I guess it was a luck thing.</p>
<p>So I just got off the phone with financial aid. I have some good news for those like me that weren’t offered any student loans for next year. According to the person I spoke with (and take this with a grain of salt), if you haven’t been awarded student loans yet, you are likely just someone whose financial aid for next year hasn’t been finalized (like me). </p>
<p>I also learned that apparently FSU has “federal regulations” that FAFSA doesn’t, or something like that, because the only reason I could get for why FSU took my brother off my FAFSA as both someone in my household and someone in college was that they “have federal regulations [they] have to follow” but when I asked them why they disagreed with what FAFSA said, the only thing I could get told was that the supervisor had already left (this was before 5, why has the supervisor already left if the office isn’t closed yet?) and that I could get a phone call tomorrow with her explaining everything.
But the lady I spoke with continually repeated herself any time I asked her to explain why FSU and FAFSA differed on how they were counting people, which I found extremely annoying and frustrating.
I did get told though that if there are “unusual circumstances” in my family, we could write a notified (I’m assuming they mean notarized?) letter explaining everything and that they will possibly (this part annoyed me too) look into everything. </p>
<p>In short, another year, another fight with the university in trying to figure out why things are how they are. Hooray.</p>
<p>Pasbal and others - After my conversation with FSU’s financial aid office on Monday I will not post on here again about anything of consequence. I won’t say more, but my conversation with their representative on Monday is the sole reason that I will no longer be posting here. Good luck to all of you.</p>
<p>I am an incoming freshman to FSU and am new to financial aid. I received $5500 from the federal stafford loan for fall/spring. My parents my over $100,000. Does this mean that I will have to take out student loans to cover for this upcoming year and can I even get loans to cover all this stuff?</p>
<p>If your experience janna was anything like mine, I can completely understand how you feel. </p>
<p>After being told some of the things I was told today, I don’t think I can ever say anything positive about the financial aid office. It seems like they truly are incompetent- or at least the two people I talked to were.</p>
<p>Kyle,
While I cannot tell you for sure what the case is, most likely what you were offered was all you will be offered. The only advice I can give you is that if you start at FSU with more than 30 credit hours, they can bump you up to $6500 in Federal Loans, since you would technically be a sophomore. </p>
<p>If you aren’t offered anything other than the loans, at this point I would assume that is all FSU is offering you (unless you also qualify for Bright Futures, which is probably the only thing left to be added). You can look to many sources for aid; many private scholarships are still accepting applications, and unless you or your parents have a bad credit history you can likely find private student loan funding through a source such as Sallie Mae or a major bank or credit union. Your parents can also apply for a Parent PLUS loan from the government.</p>
<p>How do you guys check how much financial aid you getting? I tried to login on FSU blackboard with ID and password, but after logging in it says guest user and I cant check anything. Please help…</p>
<p>I am coming straight out of high school and FSU hasn’t given me bright futures although I do qualify for 75%. As for the loans, my parents have good credit, while I have no credit at all bc I have nothing to my name. With what my parents make
Which is over $100,00 is it possible to get student loans to cover for my freshman year without doing the parent plus loan? And what is the paret plus loan if you can elaborate on it?
over $100,000 is it possible to</p>
<p>If you qualify for Bright Futures, it will be added. I remember having the same question and it just turned out that FSU didn’t process my Bright Futures until after I graduated from high school and they got all the final paperwork. </p>
<p>It’s certainly very possible to get student loans to cover the remainder you need. With Bright Futures, you will be offered around $8500 total in aid, and I think if you cut costs as much as you can, you can attend FSU full-time for around $17-18k next year, meaning that you would probably need $10k in other aid. What really matters though isn’t necessarily your parents’ income, but rather your parents’ credit history. As long as they have good credit you can get a loan, I’m sure. If not, it will be difficult to be approved for any loans. </p>
<p>The Parent PLUS loan is a loan that your parents apply for through FSU, which is disbursed by the federal government. It’s basically an unsubsidized loan, but for your parents instead of you. They have to begin repayment right away however, and the interest is something like 9.7%. They can apply for up to whatever your school costs minus whatever aid you are receiving (so in your case I think they could in theory apply for up to something like $15,000). The government does a credit check though.
The Government has a good FAQ area about the PLUS loan for parents though, that probably can give you better advice: [Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/parentloans.jsp]Student”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/parentloans.jsp)</p>
<p>Keep in mind too that if you can, working this summer and throughout your freshman year can be a huge help.</p>
<p>jaymaster, you can find everything under the Financial Aid Student Toolkit within the Secure Apps tab in Blackboard. I wish I was more help but I don’t know any possible solutions to the issues you’re having. Maybe your Blackboard account login is incorrect? Did you create a Blackboard account already?</p>
<p>Hey. So the Florida Student Assistance grant I received the past two years, but it doesn’t show on the Fall 2012 financial aid page. Online it says 12 hour credit minimum for the fall and spring before, but summer also goes towards the 24 total. I’m taking 6 credits in the summer (18 credits this past fall and spring). Will the Florida Student Assistance Grant be added back once I complete summer courses? Thanks</p>
<p>I doubt that I will do a parent plus loan. My parents credit is pretty good and I plan on getting job. About bright futures, I’m eligible for 75% and my friend who is a freshman now at USF only received about 1000 dollars for bright futures. @pasbal how could this be?</p>
<p>@Kyle013194 - BF is no longer 100% and 75%. Its a set dollar amount per credit hour. The higher BF scholarship pays $101 per credit hour and the lower one, I think, pays like $75 per credit hour or less than half of the full tuition per year.</p>
<p>Also regarding loans - since you have no credit of your own, your parents would have to co-sign any private student loans that you apply for. The parent plus loans are 7.9% interest and are fairly easy to get.</p>
<p>@Pasbal Now I see my financial aid. Looks like all I am offered is Loans, which I obviously dont want. Why havent I got any pell grant or fsu grant. Mine shows Total Offer: 5500+2000. Any idea why I havent received any grants?</p>
<p>Sid, I got told the following message when I inquired as to why my FSU Grant disappeared for next year: “limited funds” That doesn’t exactly explain everything, but that’s about all they will tell you. I know janna was told already that the awards listed were “final” but that has since been proven wrong (such as my being told that they weren’t finalized for me yet). </p>
<p>Kyle, Bright Futures hasn’t paid 100% or 75% for years now. It pays a set amount per credit hour (what used to be the 100% now only pays around 55%, for example). If you have the highest Bright Futures, you get $101 a credit hour, and if you have the old 75%, you get $76 per credit hour. </p>
<p>Jaymaster, if you weren’t awarded any grants and the only aid you were offered was student loans, you either didn’t qualify for them or FSU “ran out of funding” before they reached your application. I honestly can’t tell you more, as that is pretty much all the financial aid office is telling anyone. If you’re concerned about it though, I would suggest that you call the Financial Aid office and ask them if that’s finalized.</p>
<p>Everyone please be aware that if you are going to appeal to the financial aid office for further assistance they are watching this thread and they will bring it up when you talk to them. My advice is that you keep as much information as you can to yourself until your financial aid package is finalized. </p>
<p>And, so that Pasbal and others don’t think the reason I am no longer commenting on this thread is because I am negotiating more financial aid therefore keeping a low profile as I just suggested to all of you, I am not.</p>
<p>The FSU office of financial aid responded to my “please review” email. They requested that I call for a comprehensive response to the multiple questions I asked in my email. They responded to everything in my email but did not offer another dollar. </p>
<p>I will not go into how the conversation went or the tone or manner in which the call was handled but it was very clear to me that they are aware of what is being said in THIS PARTICULAR thread and it did seem as though they were pleased.</p>