Financial Aid Package Was Much Smaller Than Est, and Out-of-State Residents Question

Paying for College
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<p>(I've paid for my education out-of-pocket thus far so I know very little about borrowing money, so please bear with me.)</p>

<p>I'm currently finishing up my 2-years at a community college and am trying to select a college to transfer to. I am 24 years old, live on my own, and my EFC is 04106. I'm not getting any assistance from my parents and haven''t for years, but that's my number. Anyway, FAFSA gave me a </p>

<p>Direct Stafford Loan Estimate of $10,500.00
Pell Grant Estimate - $1,400.00</p>

<p>However, my FA offer this fall at my community college was</p>

<p>(Cost of Attendance $15,638.00)
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan - $1,750.00 (fall semester)
Federal Work Study - $2,400.00 (fall semester)
Federal Pell Grant - $700.00 (fall semester)</p>

<p>Why was I offered such a small loan amount and a big work study? I cant do the work study, and even if I wanted to, they don't have any openings for the semester anyway.</p>

<p>The state college I want to transfer to (OklahomaU) has a resident tuition of $7,853.50. That would be more than covered by my FAFSA estimated amount, but once I transfer do I run the same risk of getting a considerably smaller FA package offered the same way I was at my community college?</p>

<p>Also, I was thinking about maybe trying to go to an Out-of-State school. will my FAFSA amount still be a maximum of $10,500 even if my tuition is 20K+?</p>

<p>Thanks for your time
-Paul</p>

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<p>You can probably change most or all of the work study to an unsub loan if you ask.</p>

<p>You’re not likely going to get more aid if you go to an OOS public with a higher cost.</p>

<p>bTW…FAFSA isn’t giving you anything…it’s just an application. “FAFSA” doesn’t have any money.</p>

3

<p>First, it’s the college, not FAFSA, which is packaging your FA so it will vary somewhat by school. Pell and federal loan limits will remain the same though. It appears that you may be incorrectly classified as a dependent student, although you clearly qualify as independent due to your age. That affects the Direct loan limits. Contact your CC’s FA office to have that corrected. Federal work study is campus-based aid, so you may or may not be offered it at your intended transfer school. You are free to decline it anyway and can request loans instead.</p>

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<p>Colleges sometimes offer Work Study over loans as it’s not a loan and you don’t have to pay it back. You work for it. And it’s not counted in your earning when computing your EFC.</p>

<p>When they offer loans…it’s just that…money you would have to pay back. </p>

<p>So if you don’t want or can’t use work study, turn it down. But over $12K a year in college loans seems a lot. And to me in California, it seems like a very expensive community college. Oklahoma U seems like a much less expensive option.</p>

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<p><a href=“Cost%20of%20Attendance%20$15,638.00”>I</a>
*.</p>

<p>that is a very expensive CC. Is that CC out of state for you? if so, go to a CC in your own state. </p>

<p>What is the cost breakdown?</p>

6

<p>

$10,500 is the maximum Stafford loan for an independent sophomore level student. It does not increase if you go to a school that costs $20k or $50k. For 3rd year standing and up it is $12,500, (with an aggregate amount of $57,500).</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids, That is not a very high COA for a cc. Ours is higher than that for an instate student. The room and board estimate for a student not living at home is about $10K and for a student living at home, it’s still about $7K. Add transportation, personal expenses, books, tuition and fees, and you are between $15K-$20K COA.</p>

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<p>I think the cost varies state-by-state. Here in Virginia, the cost of attendance of the community college is kept a lot lower than that; if you have to pay $15-$20,000 a year, you might as well just go to a state university and save yourself the time transferring. </p>

<p>As far as WS, you can always turn it down and take your full Stafford loan eligibility.</p>

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<p>At our local (Illinois) CC, COA for a 30-hour load is $2490, plus a few small nuisance fees, books, and transportation. They claim to be the lowest-cost CC in the state, but I haven’t checked this out. </p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

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<p>* if you have to pay $15-$20,000 a year, you might as well just go to a state university and save yourself the time transferring. </p>

<p>*</p>

<p>I agree.</p>

<p>Maybe it’s a regional thing. </p>

<p>Instate CC tuition at my hometown CC in Calif is about $800 per year. Room, board, books, personal expenses, etc would be about the same whether you went to the CC or Cal State…yet a Cal State would cost about $5k more for tuition/fees.</p>

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<p>CA is unusually low compared to other states. Our local CC is the least expensive in OH. It costs $54/credit hour which works out to $1600+ for 30 semester hours.</p>

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<p>I think you might be surprised how high COAs are for cc. COA is considerably higher than tuition. The poster is talking about COA. Our cc tuition is only about $3K a year but the COA is $15K-$20K. Aid is not usually awarded to that level (since kids usually live at home) but I guess it’s there in case students need to borrow? </p>

<p>Just to give some perspective:</p>

<p>The COA at NOVA (in Virginia ) is $13,900. for an instate resident living at home and 16748. for an instate student living on his own (see page 14):
<a href=“http://www.nvcc.edu/current-students/paying-for-college/financial-assistance/docs/10-004_fin_aid.pdf[/url]”>500 - Error - Northern Virginia Community College;

<p>Is Cypress College a Calif cc? If so, here’s their budget-- $11.3K and $17.7K
<a href=“http://www.cypresscollege.edu/Media/Website%20Resources/PDFs/financialAid/COA1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cypresscollege.edu/Media/Website%20Resources/PDFs/financialAid/COA1112.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For Las Positas:
[Determining</a> Your Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.laspositascollege.edu/financialaid/budget.php]Determining”>Cost of Attendance)</p>

<p>For Palomar ($11.2K at home, $17.6 away):
<a href=“http://www.palomar.edu/fa/2012Forms/2011-2012%20Budget%20Breakdowns%20$36%20per%20unit.pdf”>http://www.palomar.edu/fa/2012Forms/2011-2012%20Budget%20Breakdowns%20$36%20per%20unit.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And here’s an OH cc, Edison: 11.3K living at home and $15.2K living on one’s own:
<a href=“http://www.edisonohio.edu/uploads/Financial-Aid/1011%20COA%20-%20With%20Rationale.pdf[/url]”>http://www.edisonohio.edu/uploads/Financial-Aid/1011%20COA%20-%20With%20Rationale.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Sinclair in OH is cheap ($7.4 living at home and $10.1K living on one’s own) but that’s for a school where each credit just costs $54.20
<a href=“http://www.sinclair.edu/services/finaid/sourcesandtypesoffinancialaid/[/url]”>http://www.sinclair.edu/services/finaid/sourcesandtypesoffinancialaid/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>tuition"
<a href=“http://www.sinclair.edu/services/bursar/fees/?searchTerm=tuition[/url]”>http://www.sinclair.edu/services/bursar/fees/?searchTerm=tuition&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Those are misleading numbers if the kid is living at home and you’re calculating marginal cost - i.e., how. much do I need to add to the family budget now that the kid’s in CC vs. high school, vs. how much if s/he was going to the nearby public U., vs. how much if s/he is going away to a school. </p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

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<p>I don’t know if they’re “misleading.” It might be more accurate to say they’re not typical but most students don’t get aid to that amount. However, I do know young people who live at home in families with VERY tight budgets and the kids are expected to pay rent, contribute to the household, pay their own clothes, insurance, contribute to car expenses-- and, yes, it can cost them that much (and more). If a student is living on his own, it can definitely cost more than that too.</p>

<p>Anyway, all that to say that the OP’s COA is not unusual for a cc but he/she may be able to lower costs considerably by working but I think some people whose families don’t/can’t help them out work and use the loans to supplement income.</p>

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<p>I’m looking at it from the standpoint of marginal cost to the family. If we go the CC route (a real possibility with DS14, unless he gets off his butt RSN) I wouldn’t even file for aid. We’re not wealthy, but we’re not in Pell territory either. </p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

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<p>Annasdad, I understand… but I happen to have a disabled friend who is in such a horrible financial position that she absolutely needs her about-to-start college kid to become a fully contributing adult and literally start buying own groceries. In their case, they are hoping the kid finds a job but if not, they may ask the cc to give the rest of COA in loans just so kiddo can go to college and not get a job.</p>

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<p>Folks, remember that COA is not actual cost! The COA for our local (SUNY) CC for a commuter is over $14K. Actual billable cost is less than $3K. Major padding for transportation, books, personal expenses, etc. The COA for my D’s university, also a SUNY,for a student living on campus is just over $20K and that’s fairly close to the actual expense. My theory is that the CC’s do this so returning students, displaced workers, can get the loans they need to support themselves while in school.</p>

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<p>While I can understand a padded COA for independent students at a CC and I can understand it for independent students who can’t live at home, I do think that padded COAs for dependents, living at home, attending a CC is ridiculous.</p>

<p>A student living at home should not have a R&B of $4-7k per year. That’s ridiculous. Even if the student is helping with **his share **of groceries and utiities, the cost can’t be more than $2-3k. Since the COAs are also including $5-7k in personal expenses, books, and transportation, there already is padding there. </p>

<p>These very high padded COAs just encourage irresponsible borrowing…“My college says that this is my budget, so I need this money…where do I sign?”</p>

<p>All of this padding doesn’t encourage any kind of economizing. There should be a lower COA and there can be an option for professional judgment to increase COA for special circumstances…such as need to buy a computer, etc.</p>

<p>this is the COA for fullerton college…Living at home </p>

<p>Annual College Costs ( Fall 2010 ) </p>

<p>In-state tuition and fees: $812
Room and board: $4,338 (very padded)
Books and supplies: $1,638 (padded)
Estimated personal expenses: $3,096 (too high…that’s about $100/week during the school year)
Transportation expense: $1,170</p>

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<p>“A student living at home should not have a R&B of $4-7k per year.” </p>

<p>You are assuming that parents are not asking for a rent contribution towards the mortgage. I know people who charge their kids rent when they reach 18yo (or even younger). $500/month is not high for that since, in those areas, it wouldn’t be cheaper for the kid to rent his own place. The COA is that high so that those kids can attend college. Most kids at our cc are not packaged up to the COA. They receive their federal and state grants, federal loans and/or work-study… and are only given additional loans if they go back to financial aid and need more $.</p>

<p>What you are calling padding is really just that you believe the parents are picking up those costs. While I think that’s true in upper-middle class families, there are a lot of poor kids whose families will not or cannot afford to let them live at home for free without contributing.</p>

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<p>^Agreed. I see this as the schools trying to make sure students have the options in case of need, not shoving it down their throats! After all, the student has to accept loans, go through the entrance counseling, etc. so it’s not as if the loans are being snuck in anywhere. Also, although R&B may look high, the cost of owning and maintaining a vehicle is higher for commuters…and may be higher than the transportation budgeted. Commuters may need to use Stafford loans to help purchase a reliable vehicle and transportation is a legitimate educational expense.</p>