<p>Hi, this is my first post and I was wondering whether my financial aid was good or not..</p>
<p>Estimated Cal Grant A- 11,124.00
UC Santa Cruz Grant- 1,885.00
Federal Perkins Loan- 1,200.00
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan- 3,500.00
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Ln- 2,000.00
Federal Work-Study Option- 1,500.00
Parent Loan Option-ApplyOnline- 10,756.00
Aid Year Totals- 31,965.00</p>
<p>can somebody help break this down for me?
also, is there any way to reduce the parent loan? :/
thank you very very much!</p>
<p>You don’t have to take any of what you’ve been offered, you can take only part of it, or you could take all of it.</p>
<p>You’ve been given:
$13,009 in gift money. This does not have to be paid back.
$4,700 is subsidized loan money. This has to be paid back, but does not accrue interest while you’re in school.
$2,000 in unsubsidized loan money. This has to be paid back and accrues interest from the moment it is disbursed.
$1,500 in money you have to earn. You have to find a work study qualified job yourself to access this.</p>
<p>The PLUS loan ($10,756) has to be applied for. All loans can be reduced if you do not want to take out the full amounts. The unsub and sub staffords are already at the max they’re allowed to be for dependent undergraduate freshman. The perkins can be reduced as well, but this loan is limited to freshman and sophomores at UCSC. Subsidized loans are a good thing.</p>
<p>Estimated COA for 2011-2012 is $31,965. Subtracting your gift aid, you are responsible for $18,956. However, a lot of the estimated areas are inflated (personal expenses, transportation, etc). Your fees are covered. Your campus fees appear to be covered as well due to the UCSC grant. You are responsible now for housing and other expenses.</p>
<p>The lovely posters in the financial aid forum will be able to give you much more detailed information if you post this there, though :). This is just a rough overview.</p>