<p>if my financial aid amount EXCEEDS my bill amount, will I get a refund check? Or do I just not pay anything?
for instance, if financial aid gave me $10,000 in FREE money (Grants, TAP, etc) for the semester,
and WITHOUT financial aid I would only have to pay $8,000, would the bursar give me a refund check for $2,000?</p>
<p>yes. 10char</p>
<p>nope.</p>
<p>Unless you got an outside scholarship that was credited to your student account. Then you might get it back.</p>
<p>Grants - I have never heard anyone getting free money back before!</p>
<p>In the past...you would get the money refunded. With Cornell's new policy...I know they're refund excess loan money...but not sure if you'll get grant money back.</p>
<p>Yes you do get a refund check for it. The cost of attendance (COA) for schools on which financial aid, including grants, is based includes allowances for miscellaneous expenses and travel which are not charges the school makes to you. Also it includes allowances for room and board which may be charged by the school if you live on campus but may not be if you live off campus. Also for books which you may or may not buy direct from the school. Any excess aid over the amounts charged to you by the school are paid to you to enable you to pay for these expenses that may not be direct charges from the school.</p>
<p>My daughter has a tuition waiver plus a cash scholarship plus grant aid (mostly federal grants + a State one). She lives off campus and buys her books from a cheaper source. Her excess aid is refunded to her after all bursars charges have been paid. She uses the refunded amounts to pay her rent, bills, books, miscellaneous expenses.</p>
<p>She is not at Cornell but the same applies to most school provided any grant money is not tied to specific school charges - for instance the girl my daughter shares an apartment with has an institutional grant that cover books only if she buys them from the school. In her situation she would not get a refund of any excess of that grant. My daughter does not have any grants/scholarships that have such rules so she buys her books where she chooses. Check the conditions attached to your aid to be sure.</p>
<p>Any grant/scholarship money in excess of tuition/fees/required books is taxable so be prepared for that.</p>
<p>Wow. In California, I have not heard of students getting excess refunded from state grants. Are these specific to Cornell?</p>
<p>I dunno if it's specific for cornell, but I e-mailed the finaid office, and they told me specifically that it was refunded to the student, any excess aid, regardless of loan/grant/w.e.</p>
<p>I guess the answer is to always check with the specific institution. It may vary by school or (even state). Good thing that you checked with them. That is good news!</p>
<p>It's not excess aid per se. It's just more than what the school charges (fees, tuition, etc.). There are still expenses that you don't pay directly to the school (food, books, travel, etc.). The refund will be used to cover those expenses.</p>
<p>
[quote]
have not heard of students getting excess refunded from state grants
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Cornell's grant money is not state money...it's from Cornell.</p>
<p>And norcalguy is right....by the time I paid for rent, books and food the refund I received from Cornell was spent. I saved anything extra and was recently able to pay off one of my loans.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In California, I have not heard of students getting excess refunded from state grants
[/quote]
Maybe the the Cal grants have more rules attached to them or are specifically for tuition? (or maybe Cal schools are so expensive there is no excess ;) ) . Federal grants such as Pell (and in my Ds case a State grant)are not specifically tied to tuition/fees so if those are covered by other scholarships (such as my daughter's tuition waiver which is merit based) then the Pell grant money is allowed to be refunded to her to cover expenses not directly paid to the school.</p>
<p>I made a mistake, it was not EXCEEDED, because of WORK STUDY. I missed that (misunderstanding).</p>