<p>Hi I just received some financial aid notifications from schools I've been accepted to. </p>
<ul>
<li>I just received an offer from School Y offering $43,236 (combination of scholarships + federal work study/fed academic grant/henderson grant/pell grant/perkins loan/PLUS loan/SEOG grant/Unsubsidized as well as subsidized stafford loans...</li>
</ul>
<p>So two questions:
1. which of these do I have to pay back?
2. On the school website, for out-of-state residents, total cost of attending (including room&board/estimated cost of books) only equals $39,216. Why do I have more than the cost of attending?
3.I'm not sure what the next step at this point is in figuring out what to do?</p>
<p>Any information or advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Ones you don’t have to pay back are:</p>
<p>scholarships + federal work study/fed academic grant/henderson grant/pell grant/SEOG grant</p>
<p>Ones you have to pay back are:</p>
<p>/perkins loan/PLUS loan/Unsubsidized as well as subsidized stafford loans…</p>
<p>What is the total amount for the ones you don’t have to pay back? Add those together. Take what it costs to attend and subtract the two and that is what you will need to take out in loans. Take out PLUS loan and see what your parents get, then go in order of subsidized, unsubsidized and finally Perkins.</p>
<p>Hope that helps ya!</p>
<p>Oh and your school is going to meet 100% of your financial need in one way or another so that is why the amount you can receive is higher then the actual costs.</p>
<p>work study is a on campus job you have to secure yourself (thru on campus employment center) and money is paid directly to you</p>
<p>also the difference btw your award and stated COA could be the amount that tuition/room/board and fees are due to increase for 2009-2010 school year</p>
<p>Some schools list the Cost of Attendance budget on the award letter - which is an estimate of the costs the typical student in your situation might incur over the course of the school year - and it is also the amount on which financial aid is awarded. COA includes tuition, room, board, books, fees, miscellaneous personal costs, and travel expenses. For this reason, it is more than the actual cost to attend the school (unless you are paying for more credits than the average student, or living in a more expensive housing option, in which case it may not be all that much more than actual costs for YOU). Financial aid can be awarded up to the COA. Because your books, personal costs, and travel expenses are within your control, you may well be able to get by on less money than your COA allows. </p>
<p>Let’s say you have a lot of grants & scholarships. If they cover tuition, fees, and living expenses - there is no reason to take out loans, even if they are offered to you. If you need some of the loans, but not all, then only borrow what you need.</p>
<p>Here is how I looked at it: Add up current tuition, room, board, and fees. Add about 6% to that for possible increases. Then subtract the grants. This is the actual cost you will have to pay to the school, because the grants will be subtracted from your bill. If you still have a balance, you will have to figure out how to pay it. You can choose to borrow a student loan to pay it (Perkins first, then subsidized Stafford, then unsubsidized Stafford in order of best deal) - or your parents may choose to borrow a PLUS loan, instead (or in addition). If you do not have enough money to pay for books, you will need to borrow enough to pay for those, as well. If you get a work study job, you can use the funds to pay for personal expenses as they arise during the term.</p>
<p>Some schools include parental PLUS loans in their financial aid package, many do not. I think it’s somewhat misleading to include these- At first glance, it looks like they’ve met 105% of need, or some such.</p>
<p>Anyway, the first thing we do is strip out the PLUS loans from the package to get a better idea of what’s really being offered, and in order to try to compare apples with apples.</p>
<p>Kelsmom’s strategy looks like a good one.</p>
<p>I understand that many people feel that including PLUS loans in the package is misleading. However, my office believes it is our responsibility to let our students and their families know what is available to them to finance the costs for the year. We aren’t telling them to take it - but if they choose to attend & need a way to pay, this loan is available to them as a federal financial aid program.</p>
<p>Wow, thank you all for your help!</p>
<p>I said a boo boo - Going to correct myself here:</p>
<p>I said: Take out PLUS loan and see what your parents get, then go in order of subsidized, unsubsidized and finally Perkins.</p>
<p>I really needed to say: If your parents can, or want to, try for the PLUS loan. If they know they can’t get it, apply anyways because it could give you more in other loans if they get denied. Then go for subsidized, Perkins and lastly unsubsidized. (Subsidized and Perkins pays your interest for the time you are in school.)</p>
<p>kelsmom-</p>
<p>Right, I agree. But I think less misleading to inform them of the availability of the PLUS loan in a separate section, and not totaling the PLUS loan in with the grants, scholarships, and subsidized loans, as some schools do.</p>
<p>well they never write - Here’s your EFC.</p>
<p>My recommended Plus loan has been about what my EFC is.<br>
I just decline the loan and write that painful check</p>
<p>You are fortunate. I have seen PLUS loans much higher than EFC due to gapping.</p>
<p>I believe Perkins are at a lower interest rate than Stafford.</p>
<p>Yes. Perkins is the best fed loan currently - 5% interest rate, subsidized, 9 month grace period. Difficult to get though. Then Subsidized Stafford is 5.6% for loans awarded 2009-2010 (6% for 2008-2009), with a 6 month grace period. Unsub Staffords are 6.8%.</p>
<p>2010-2011 the sub Stafford is supposed to drop below 5%. I wonder if the Perkins will stay at 5%.</p>
<p>What are the limits to what you can “borrow” for subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans? </p>
<p>Then, if applying for Parents PLUS, what is the limit on sub/unsub stafford loans?</p>
<p>If denied Parents PLUS, what is the limit on stafford sub/unsub loans?</p>
<p>Lastly, how do you apply for Perkins? It wasn’t listed on D’s financial aid award.</p>
<p>Not all schools have perkins funds. If they do, they only offer them to students with most need. Max freshman subsidized is 3500 and 2000 unsub
If parents are denied PLUS (which can be as much as you are willing to take out up to meet the COA - other FA offered) then the student can get another 4000 unsub loan</p>
<p>Subsidized loans increase in years 2,3,4 to 4500, 5500, 5500
additional 2000 can be in unsub each year (or more if parents denied PLUS)</p>
<p>depending on your EFC and the COA and other FA offered, you can call FA office to ask about Perkins, but you can’t force them to give it to you (there is no application for it - at discretion of school)</p>
<p>Are stafford loans available for summer terms? D will be taking 6 credits and living on campus. Her school asked us to fill out the 2008-2009 FAFSA, which we did just recently, but when I log on to view her account at school it says financial aid not available, even though when I called they said that the only form of financial aid is loans. Do they mean personal or federal loans? I need to speak to them again, but thought I’d ask here first. We are willing to pay Summer in full, but that would mean a little extra in loans come Fall.</p>
<p>your stafford loan is for a school year. If you use it in the summer (not sure if you can do that the summer before freshman year) you have that much less to use for the regular term. Perhaps in your case they are using summer as the end of the current year and not next year</p>
<p>You might have to be registered as a full time student (approx 12 credits) to receive FA, even during the summer term.</p>
<p>Summer is the end of this session, 2008-2009</p>
<p>We also filed out the FAFSA for 2009-2010, Fall and Spring</p>
<p>I think (but am not sure) that full time for summer has a lower credit hour requirement. Perhaps 6 hours. Or perhaps this varies by school.</p>
<p>Just checked and at my daughters school it says you must be enrolled 6 hours in the summer for a Stafford loan in the summer. I don’t know if that is considered full time or not. In my daughter’s case she had no Stafford loan 2008-2009 school year so has the full eligibility left, though will only take subsidized loans that are offered.</p>
<p>JerseyshoreMom - did she already have loans for 2008-2009? If she had the maximum Stafford loans for a school year then there will be no more available. If she only had part then some should be available if she meets whatever the schools enrollment requirements are. My daughter had a Perkins but no Stafford so is applying for Stafford loans for some summer courses. At her school summer is part of the preceding school year so she can get loan in summer with no affect on the 2009-2010 year. At a school that include summer in the following year then summer aid might affect her remaining aid.</p>