<p>I just need some clarification of how your financial aid package money is disbursed. My financial aid package covers 100% of my cost of attendance.</p>
<p>I was looking through the different parts of the cost of attendance and I saw areas such as "Clothing Mainteneance, Computer Costs, and Books & Supplies". For categories like those that wouldn't be paid directly to the school itself, would the Financial Aid services have to cut me a check so I could purchase these items myself?</p>
<p>That is how it works at our schools. The direct charges from the school (tuition and fees, room & board when they lived on campus) are charged to the bursars account. The financial aid and scholarships are credited to the account. If there are more direct expenses that aid/scholarships we owe them. If there are less direct expenses that aid/scholarships the excess is ‘refunded’ to the student. The timetable for the refund varies by school. For my daughter it is very quick (less than 2 weeks after school starts). For my son very slow (@ 5-6 weeks after school starts).</p>
<p>Yup. Usually, the school pays itself and then cuts you a check for the rest. As simwcatsmon said, how long it takes depends on the school. My son’s takes about 3 weeks after school starts, but they let him buy books on credit at the bookstore in the meantime. My school direct deposits my extra into my bank account in the first week of class. I would check if there’s a direct deposit option, as that often speeds it up by a couple of days. </p>
<p>BTW, if your package includes federal workstudy job, then they assume that the “books/clothing/etc” will be paid for out of that, so you don’t get money up front.</p>
<p>[I didn’t want to create a new thread because this one kind of related to my question, so…]</p>
<p>Can federal loans be taken out (through the school) to help cover the cost of books? How does the loan work; is it directed to my account and I can just use my student card to purchase the books at the bookstore when school starts? (I would much prefer buying the books at half.com or someplace besides the bookstore because it’ll be cheaper, but I’m just not sure how the disbursement of federal loans work.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Yes you can get federal loans as long as you are eligible (eg a US citizen or eligible permanent resident). A freshman is eligible for $5500 in Stafford loans of which up to $3500 may be subsidized if there is financial ‘need’. It works the same as other aid. It is paid into your bursars and if there is any excess after direct charges it is paid to you. The 2 schools we are involved in the money is not disbursed in time to pay for books outside of school. So we buy them on a credit card and pay them off once the refund arrives (which hopefully is by the time the credit card bill is due).</p>
<p>Thanks for the help swimcatsmom! I called the FA office and I was eligible for the federal loan so everything worked out well. And the disbursement is exactly like you say it is…direct charges to my account —> buy books at Bookstore or I can use a credit card (which I won’t do because the refund won’t arrive in time before the credit card bill is due).</p>
<p>Thank you soooo much for the information and I truly appreciate it!</p>