What did the school ask for in terms of documentation for verification purposes?
Is your mom a U.S. citizen (this wouldn’t affect your status…but might make them question your citizenship if she isn’t).
You wrote:
What was the “misinformation” on your FAFSA?
Are your parents divorced or separated? How did your mom file her taxes for 2017? Were you parents still married in 2017?
The purpose of financial aid is to help students pay for school. You won’t receive any money. It will go directly to the school. If your aid exceeds direct costs you’ll get a refund for the difference, but those are usually sent out several weeks after the semester starts.
For example: If total aid is $12k/year and you have 3 semesters, the school will get $4k each semester. If direct costs – tuition, fees, and health ins (if they require it) – are $3500k, at some point in the semester you’ll get a $500 refund. But if direct costs are $4500 then you’ll owe $500. That will have to be paid at the beginning of each semester.
If you’re a state resident then it looks to me like the $3700 tuition would be covered if you get a $4500 Pell Grant. That would leave you $800 for the year ($266/semester for 3 semesters) that you could put toward books.
The $5500 is a loan. If you take that then you’re borrowing money to live at home. You’re better off getting a job as soon as you can so you can start saving to help cover living expenses while you’re in school. You may have to hold a job while you’re in school to cover the expenses.
You may be offered Work Study. Students with Work Study are eligible to apply for a part-time job on campus. They can work up to 10 hours/week and earn $8/hour. However, there’s no guarantee that students will get a job (many at our college don’t). Students who are lucky enough to get a job don’t start until a few weeks into the semester. They’re paid as they work, so a student who’s awarded $1200 in Work Study can only earn $300/semester (if there are 3 semesters) and they’ll receive it in paychecks based on the number of hours they work.
You need to talk to someone in the financial aid office. Make an appointment to sit down with someone and go over the numbers until you understand them.
I am concerned that @hrrenee simply thought that all the money needed would simply be handed over through financial aid and that mom bought a house with the expectation that there would be free money coming in. I think school might start in the summer. Makes no sense to me why OP isn’t working.
Per the aid notification, the tuition & fees are more than $12k/year. COA is more than $20k/year. There are way too many things going on here that don’t make sense … we cannot possibly provide the answers. OP has to meet with an aid officer & straighten things out.
Right, we can’t speculate how this divvies up when OP has no correct aid offer. No aid from the college shows on her letter. (Nothing from the feds, either, in fact.) And the tuition & fees info on the letter seems off.
My comment on 1533 was that EFC is NOT all she can expect to pay. If she understands this, it’s unclear. My comment that, if her net bill were only EFC, she wouldn’t “need” 12k, stands. (And, at the very least, she needs books and to pay Mom. But the college net is not EFC.)
The college shows $4500 for in-state tuition and fees, 2018-2019. They calculate 19,371 total, which we know includes some fluff. Eg, living at home will cost $4800/year, not the 10k the college includes. Yes, OP can save on books, personal, etc.
BUT, she has no formal letter with the right numbers. We can assume some Pell and a fed loan- but no formal offer from the college.
Right now, @hrrenee doesn’t have any financial aid. OP cannot start until they do. The Cost breakdown on the shopping sheet is your bill or the amount you have to raise to meet costs not money that they will provide for you. You might possibly recieve enough in aid but you may not. You cannot start unless you receive the aid or work and have the money availble.
I think the time for emails is over. You need to call FA department and get answers. Really, at this point, I would physically go to the FA office and ask for help in understanding your FA. I would call before hand and see if you need an appointment.
As for working, it sound like a no brainer that you should be working. If you plan on getting a four year degree, you need all the savings you can get. While, you might be okay for this year year what about years 3 and 4.
@hrrenee, two things YOU need to do ASAP
1) CALL the Everett CC Financial Aid Department and set up a face-to-face meeting. They open at 8 AM on Monday morning, and here is their phone number: 425-388-9280. Please let us know once you have set up this meeting.
A few things I’m concerned you might not fully understand:
-“Financial Aid” does not mean FREE money. You will have to pay back, with interest, anything that has the word “loan” in it. Hopefully you will be awarded a Pell Grant, since this is the ONLY part of financial aid you will not have to pay back or work to earn. The Pell Grant will be your only free money portion of financial aid.
-The $5,500 financial aid several commenters referred to is a freshmen LOAN that, if you accept the full amount all 4 years of college, will require you to pay back almost $300 per month for 10 full years after graduation. If you can avoid accepting a loan, by working now and earning a paycheck to pay for your expenses as you go, that would be much better in the long run.
-You may be responsible for paying more than your EFC, $1533. It is NOT guaranteed that you will receive enough financial aid to cover all expenses greater than your EFC.
-You asked several times “So does financial aid cover cost of classes? Or will i have to pay for that out of the 12k i get per year?”. You will not be handed $12k. All Financial Aid money is given directly to Everett CC, and used to pay for classes/tuition. Again, you will NOT be handed any free money to do with as you see fit. Any money the college might refund you after tuition fees are paid, would be from a LOAN (not free money.)
My apologies if my message comes across harsh. I want to be very clear and direct to make sure you understand where you stand. My intention is not to be unkind.
Nobody but the financial aid office can tell OP what they WILL get. The best we can do is give enough information so they start to get an idea about how financial aid works.
My concern is similar to one posted upthread. I’m afraid OP thinks all they have to pay is $1500 out of the $12k aid they assume they’re getting and the rest is free money. I gave some examples so OP can see that it doesn’t work that way. They really need to understand that taking the full federal student loans means committing to making $300/month loan repayments for 10 years after graduation.
Uh hold on. FIRST OF ALL, @gearmom my hardworking mother did NOT buy a house excepting that im getting $12k a year, and its rude to assume that. Shes buy a house whether she wants to or not, since the place we were renting had been sold, so it was either try to find another place to rent (impossible, i have a 100 pound dog) or to buy a house; which we were planning for. I am not working because 1) I have recently had very extreme surgeries to my face, nasal passages, nasal cavities, and my nose itself due to health problems. I get very bad headaches VERY easily, dizziness, and pain. hence why i was trying to figure out if i NEEDED to get a job. Im not just kicking my feet up and hoping money will come to me freely simply because i want it. Im going to school so i can get a job sitting down (medical receptionist) and hopefully be less strenuous on me physically.
SECOND, i appreciate you all helping to explain this to me, but i must reiterate, I HAVE NOT BEEN EXPLAINED ANYTHING ABOUT FINANCIAL AID. Other than being told to apply for it, NOTHING HAS BEEN EXPLAINED TO ME. Thats why all my questions seem weird or it seems like i think it to be one way, instead of another. SO PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND.
THIRD, i was planning on starting college in the fall.
And sorry for the spelling errors, this laptop im using is being funky.
Also, Im not getting a 4 year degree. Medical Receptionist certificate is less than a year.
It’s great that you’re trying to understand how things work. The best thing to do is talk to the financial aid people at your school. Will you be well enough to start school in the fall? If you’re still healing don’t rush it.
Unfortunately my recovery time is 1-2 years, and even then my symptoms might never go away.
Also, reading everyones different info they are giving me, this is a lot. Can anyone summarize?
“Also, Im not getting a 4 year degree. Medical Receptionist certificate is less than a year”
Is it any wonder we’re confused? Answers are only as good as the info provided.
To summarize:
Your letter shows the bill, zero aid.
Until you get firm info from the college, we can only tell you that, for sure.
@lookingforward , I meant to summarize how FA works. I’m aware it says 0 aid, as my FA is still awaiting professional review, which has been said in previous comments. And i’ve provided plenty of info, no ones really asked me for specifics on what i’m going into. Just info regarding what i’ve done with the FA forms and etc.
Post #59 summarizes the issues…first, you do need to call the financial aid office to deal with the out of state costs in your financial summary, and FAFSA verification issues. You can’t move forward without doing that. Once those things have been resolved, you should know the total cost of attendance (COA) and your specific financial aid, giving you a net number you will need to pay.
Separately, please look into job placement outcomes for the medical receptionist program at Everett CC, as well as likely salary. It might make sense to take the $5,500 student loan, it might not. Here you can calculate how much you would have to pay monthly on that loan (use 4.5% interest rate and 10 year payback period), as well as what salary you would need to comfortably afford that debt. https://mappingyourfuture.org/paying/standardcalculator.cfm
Here is more info on student loan programs. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans
So from what im gathering money wise, if i get the pell grant i could get 6k, but i have to take out another 6k loan if i want to pay for it all?
There are three main types of financial aid:
You are not guaranteed full financial aid to cover your cost of attendance, even though your EFC determined you should only have to pay $1533.
Read this: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/funding-your-education.pdf
Your number one priority should be making an appointment with the Everett CC Financial Aid Office to sit down in person and get all their misinformation straightened out. Only they can fix your bill, and determine exactly how much and what type of aid you’ll receive. Have them explain to you line by line what their financial aid package means and ask lots of questions when you do not understand. Do not assume anything.