Hi!
So my EFC is 0 and I’m an independent (emancipated minor), thankfully I have a good scholarship to my school, but unfortunately it doesn’t cover summer tuition. Also unfortunately, I had a medical scare last semester and part of this semester, where I racked up about 8k in medical bills that I’ve mostly paid off (minus about 2k). My school posted the award amounts for this summer, and I only saw PELL listed, no loans offered. Confused, I contacted the financial aid department. They said that the aid I had received during the year had exceeded the projected Cost of Attendance for the fall/spring/summer, therefore, I’m not eligible for federal loans (I didn’t take out any in Fall/Spring) this summer. Any suggestions as to what steps to pursue further?
The school can’t award more than the COA.
You can ask if they can reconsider your COA. Sometimes, not often, schools will give an individual COA that is more than a typical student because of really expensive travel or a medical requirement (like you need to live in a single apt)
Were loans awarded to you this fall/spring that you didn’t take? If you are still in the spring semester, request that loan now, before the end of the semester and save the money for the summer.
Also, if you were awarded work study and you didn’t use it, have them take it off your award, which might free up some space in the COA.
How many classes are you taking in the summer?
Can you work as well?
Many students can’t afford to take summer classes if they don’t have aid to cover it.
If you have a $0 EFC and are low income, find out if you can apply for financial assistance from the healthcare provider.
Why do you need to take summer classes? With your financial considerations, perhaps working would be a better choice.
If you took NO Direct Loans for this academic year, go to the financial aid office and find out why you can get the loan. If it’s because your cost of attendance has been met otherwise, I don’t think you will be able to do much.
Summer aid uses a full year budget, and the portion allocated for summer is typically less than the fall or spring semester. If you didn’t borrow your full annual loan amount in the fall/spring, you may be able to borrow it in summer, as long as you are enrolled at least half time. If you have borrowed all the loan eligibility already, you cannot borrow more.
I was reading your older posts, did you get in through Questbridge?
The OP has not been active on this site since the day they started this thread.