<p>I plan to move to an apartment somewhere in west campus or north campus next year if I become a sophomore at UT but I was planning to pay rent with financial aid money. I would just like to know, from those who pay for tuition and other things with financial aid, if the money you received is enough to cover at least tuition and rent? How much is the interest rate? Is it less than 8%? I really want to transfer into UT but I also need to be sure that I can afford it.</p>
<p>Apartments in West Campus can be be more expensive than UT dorms.
You need to talk to student realtors and tell them how much you can pay. They’ll find you an apartment in your price range.
I don’t understand your question about financial aid and interest rate.
If you qualify for Pell you can check SMART housing
Here , for example [SMART</a> Housing | Longhorn Leasing](<a href=“http://longhornleasing.com/smart-housing/]SMART”>http://longhornleasing.com/smart-housing/)
If it’s loans
[Direct</a> Loan Page for Students](<a href=“http://www.direct.ed.gov/student.html]Direct”>http://www.direct.ed.gov/student.html)</p>
<p>Thank you! To better rephrase my question it basically was, how does financial aid work when it comes to paying your rent and tuition? I called the financial aid offices and they said that the amount they could give me per semester would be around 20-25,000. Can you set up a payment plan with financial aid and your rent every month?</p>
<p>Does SMART housing charge less per month?</p>
<p>This is how it works.</p>
<p>OFSF (finaid office) awards you with financial aid from different sources, nothing else.
Actual money are sent to Student Accounts Receivable (UT Accounting office) which is in charge of all payments between you and UT ONLY. It doesn’t deal with third party vendors, including apartments not owned by UT.
[Office</a> of Accounting - Student Accounts Receivable](<a href=“Student Accounts Receivable | Accounting and Financial Management (AFM)”>Student Accounts Receivable | Accounting and Financial Management (AFM))</p>
<p>When you register for you classes you receive a bill. Let’s say it’s 4,500 for a semester. You press button called “pay with financial aid”, and the accounting office will take care of it.
If your finaid is 20,000 per year it’s distributed by semester. 10,000 per semester.
10,000 - 4,500 =5,500 left.
Depending on where you live Student Accounts Receivable will either pay for UT dorm (if you live there) and send the remaining money to you OR will send all the remaining money to your if you live in a place not associated with UT.
The cheapest UT dorm (9 months contract, all utilities included, meal plan and 300 Bevo Bucks included) is about 9,000 - 4,500 per semester.
[Division</a> of Housing and Food Service - Prices](<a href=“UHD Homepage | University Housing and Dining”>UHD Homepage | University Housing and Dining)
A little more than 1,000 is left for books that you have to buy yourself and other personal expenses.
If you live somewhere else you get 5,500 and you are in charge of paying rent, utilities, internet, meal, transportation, books, and all personal expenses. </p>
<p>If you check the website I provided you can read about SMART Housing:
“THIS MEANS REDUCED RENT FOR QUALIFYING RESIDENTS” </p>
<p>Contact the realtor, ask all the questions. You will be lost without professional help. You need to learn not only about available apartments but also about SMART housing, transportation to UT, meals (grocery stores in the neighborhood) etc…
UT is NOT going to answer any questions that are not related to its own business.</p>