Financial aid clarification

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm new the forums, thanks for having me. I went and applied at fafsa for Financial aid, and after everything they sent me this. Could anyone explain to me what this means? I'm currently enrolled for 13.5 credits, will these classes be payed for, if so , how much of it? </p>

<h2>Thanks for any help!</h2>

<p>Dear Robert ,</p>

<pre><code> The following awards are dependent upon the availability of funds and
assumed FULL-time STATUS (12 UNITS). Your aid will be adjusted based
upon actual enrollment at the time of disbursement, including any
debts you owe to the college.

    Note: If you receive a Federal Grant (Pell, SEOG, ACG), and/or Loans
    and withdraw from ALL of your classes or you are reported as non-
    attendance by an instructor, you will OWE money back to the
    Department of Education.  Please review the Satisfactory Academic
    Progress (SAP) for detailed information.

    The BOGG is a fee waiver only. You will not receive a check
    disbursement for this award.

    Please allow 15 business days for delivery of checks.
    The anticipated disbursement mailing dates are posted on our website.

    If you are interested in applying for a student loan, please visit our
    website.

    You are expected to have a certain amount of cash to defray immediate
    expenses such as books, supplies, and personal expenses at the
    beginning of each semester. Please note that funds received under the
    PELL GRANT, SEOG, ACG, FEDERAL WORK STUDY, FEDERAL LOAN PROGRAMS, or
    STATE GRANTS must be used for education expenses.

    **Important note: You will not receive financial aid for classes added
    after the census date.**

    **NEW for 07-08 PELL GRANT will be disbursed in two payments of 50%
    each per semester.**

    BUDGET    $9,500
    EFC           $0
    NEED      $9,500

    Award                   Total       FALL    WIN/SPR

    BOGG C AWARD          $760.00    $380.00    $380.00


    Award Total           $760.00    $380.00    $380.00

    Sincerely,

</code></pre>

<hr>

2

<p>Is the BOGG award all that is mentioned in the letter? No mention of being awarded a Pell grant or anything else? With an EFC of 0 I would expect to see at least a Pell grant.</p>

<p>If that is all you have been awarded then it means you have only been awarded $760 in financial aid which means only $760 of your expenses are covered.</p>

<p>I am Surprised by the absence of a Pell grant or federal loans - are you a US citizen?</p>

3

<p>It appears that you were awarded a BOGG award of $760 by the institution, disbursed in equal amounts of $380 for each semester. The letter states this is a fee waiver and will be credited to your bill:</p>

<p><the bogg="" is="" a="" fee="" waiver="" only.="" you="" will="" not="" receive="" check="" disbursement="" for="" this="" award.=""></the></p>

<p>I have to ask the same question swimcatsmom does. Is this the only award letter/notification you've received? Have you ever signed an award letter and returned it to the institution? </p>

<p>I suggest you contact your school's financial aid office and see what's up.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the fast replies.</p>

<p>Yes, I was born and raised in California. This is the only award letter that shows up from my college, I haven't signed and returned anything yet. I have an appointment with a counciler on monday. Hopefully he can clear it up. </p>

<p>What's the "
BUDGET $9,500
EFC $0
NEED $9,500"
Mean?</p>

<p>Thanks again guys.</p>

5

<p>When did you apply for your financial aid? From what you are posting, it sounds like this was a very recent event. I agree with others...it looks like you were awarded a Bogg Award of $380 per semester. I also would expect to at least see an offering of a Stafford Loan (subsidized due to your low EFC). And I agree, contact the finaid office. I just hope you didn't miss some deadlines...</p>

6

<p>I just applied about 3 weeks ago, It went threw fairly fast and I checked all the FAFSA deadlines. I seem to be fine according to their dates.
I'll check with the Finaid office, thanks for everything guys!</p>

7

<p>Well the wording i have seen on financial aid offers usually refers to COA which stands for Cost of Attendance. This usually includes tuition and fees, books, room and board, and possibly an amount for miscelleneous expenses and transportation.</p>

<p>EFC stands for Estimated Family Contribution. When you submit FAFSA the numbers are run through a formula that produces the EFC which is the amount you and your family (the EFC is made up of a parent portion - assuming you are a dependent - and a student portion) are expected to contribute toward your college expenses for that year. The FAFSA EFC is used to determine your eligibility for federal aid (such as Pell grants, Perkins loans etc) and to determine possible aid from your school or state.</p>

<p>The difference between the COA (which I am guessing is the 'budget' mentioned in your letter) and the EFC is your financial need on which you aid award is based. This does not neccessarily mean full need will be met (depends on the school). </p>

<p>Did you file late? It seems late to be getting the award letter.</p>

8

<p>Are you attending a CA community college? If so, I believe the BOGG (Board of Governors Grant) award is a fee waiver that covers enrollment costs (tuition) for the year. For the CCs that came up on google, the tuition is less than $700 for the yr. I think the BOGG award also covers some of the transportation costs as well. IT doesn't cover room & board though. </p>

<p>You should definitely call your FA dept or check the website to see what your actual costs. Sounds like you're expected to have cash available for your books as that's not covered (but possibly could be by federal grants, such as PELL grants, etc).</p>

<p>The Community College websites that mentioned BOGG awards listed Budget as what is normally referred to as COA. </p>

<p>example:</p>

<br>


<br>

<ol>
<li>What is the Cost of Attendance at Shasta College?</li>
</ol>

<p>In order to treat all students equally, standardized budgets (or Cost of Attendance) are established and applied to all applicants. This means all students with similar circumstances will receive the same allowance for tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, personal expenses, and transportation. Other expenses may include, but are not limited to, child care, vocational/technical and handicapped expenses. </p>

<p>2007-2008 Cost of Attendance
Student Budget Expenses 9 Month, No Dependents, Living at Home Budget 9 Month, No Dependents, Living Away From Home Budget
Tuition/Fees $552 $552
Books & Supplies $1350 $1350
Room & Board $3400 $8500
Transportation $1100 $1300
Personal Expenses $2000 $2200
Total $8402 $13902</p>

9

<p>@ Swimcat
Alright, sounds good. Yeah I applyed about 3 weeks ago. Not sure if that's horribly late or not, The FAFSA webpage said everything should be in order in 2 weeks from applying.
As for my EFC, yeah my parents can't afford much right now, Thanks for explaining the EFC and COA. I talked to my school , they said I need to bring in my parents tax papers from 2006,but my parents haven't filed yet. They're going to do that monday hopefully it's not too late. I also had to fill out 10 or so other forms not mensioned on FAFSA. I'm going to run those on Tuesday because I need the tax papers. Do you think there's anyway to get this to work with my parents 2005 Tax file? My mom said it's almost the same as this years should be. I'd call and ask the school but it's impossible to get threw via phone.</p>

<p>@ Jerzgrlmon
Yeah tuition is around $550 for my 13.5 Units. And yeah, it's a CA community college. I've talken to a few friends that qualified for finaid a year or so back saying they got a check for their books, tuition, ect. My parents income, aswell as my income is less than what they had, so they assumed i'd quallify also. I'll bring it up with the finaid when I get there. They were booked for appointments, so they said i basicly have to camp outside their office , haha :D</p>

<p>Thanks again guys.</p>

10

<p>It sounds like your FAFSA was flagged for verification (about 30% are - ours was - does not mean anything bad). The tax papers will be to verify the financial information you reported on FAFSA. 2005 will not work - it will need to be 2006 as financial aid for the 2007-2008 school year is based on 2006 income. If they were not required to file a tax return for 2006 then you will need to check with the school what exactly you need to bring. If they were supposed to file then they should do so ASAP so you can get everything verified. If your EFC stays at 0 you should hopefully get a new financial aid package that includes some federal aid.</p>

11

<p>When you filed the FAFSA (and 2006 taxes had not been completed), did you use a "will file" status for your parents reporting (meaning they "will file" their taxes but haven't yet done so)? I'm wondering if this finaid award is an estimated award pending the finalization of your FAFSA once the 2006 taxes are complete. Bottom line....I'm just guessing. Your family does need to get the 2006 taxes DONE as soon as possible, and you need to amend your FAFSA to reflect the accurate numbers on your tax form.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, that's exactly what I did. So go back to FAFSA and resubmit an application? or will the college take care of that when i bring their 06 papers in?</p>

13

<p>Usually you amend the FAFSA yourself and resubmit to the college. BUT I would ask the college what they would like you to do since they have already requested your tax returns. It sounds to me like you are looking for financial aid to assist you with expenses other than tuition. Is that correct? If so, I believe that finaid used for living expenses is considered taxable....just an FYI. Good luck to you....I hope this all gets sorted out.</p>

14

<p>what if my EFC is 0? does that mean i wont get any $$$?</p>

15

<p>mini - EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution. Financial aid is based on your 'need' which is the difference between COA (Cost Of Attendance) and EFC. If your EFC is 0 it means that, based on the information you supplied, your family is expected to contribute $0. This does not neccessarily mean you will get a free ride as many schools do not meet full need and those that do may include a lot of loans. The 0 EFC should make you eligible for some federal aid (grants and loans and work study) - assuming you are a US citizen, - the rest depends on your State (some States offer some need based aid) and your school and you (do you qualify for merit aid). </p>

<p>Thumper has a good thread pinned at the top of the financial aid page about how to prepare for the financial aid process. A web site called finaid.org has a lot of information about the financial aid process.</p>