<p>DD is going to be graduating a semester early. We just received her financial aide package for the 2011/2012 year. She was awarded a 1/2 tuition merit scholarship for all four years of her undergrad as well as some "tuition remission" etc. At the end of the day she takes the max stafford loan, and we take out a parent plus for the balance. </p>
<p>Question is: Once we/she inform the school that she is graduating in December.. not May of 2012, can she still take out the full Stafford for her final semester and reduce our parent plus? I'm also interested to see what they do with her Scholarship money as well. </p>
<p>Not sure about the student loan, but the school is likely just going to award half the scholarship (which is half tuition for one semester). It’s doubtfull that they would give you both “halves” of the scholarship for one semester. </p>
<p>However, there’s no harm in asking the scholarship dept ahead of time to see if you can negotiate that issue BEFORE she firmly announces that she’s graduating in December. If you ask if she can have both halves for one semester, then she will graduate early (Dec).</p>
<p>There are some weird rules about the Stafford loans when you are finishing up in a semester that is not the end of the school year. I don’t understand them completely, so hopefully Kelsmom will see this thread and give more accurate information. </p>
<p>My understanding is that if they do not know you are graduating in December then the aid award including the loan would be spread out over the full year as usual. So you would get the half year’s Stafford loan in the fall as usual. If you tell them in advance that you are graduating in December it starts to get weird. The rules for disbursing Staffords in two parts still apply even though you are just there for one semester, so half the semesters loan would be disbursed at the usual point in the semester and the rest later in the semester. The amount you get is tied, I *think *, to the number of credits being taken in the semester, relative to a normal school year. </p>
<p>I probably have that all wrong but, suffice to say, there are some weird rules. It was explained to me once and it was quite confusing and I have slept since then.</p>
<p>As far as the scholarship is concerned I would expect that she will only get the scholarship for the semester she is actually in school and the remainder will be lost. That has been my, admittedly limited, experience. Check with the school to be sure as only they can tell you the rules for their institution.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the responses. I need to talk to DD before calling the school. As she is graduating and, at this point, handles things mostly on her own, I will wait to hear from her before making any calls. This is finals week.</p>
<p>I am assuming at this point that it will one semesters worth etc. Will be interested to see what the school has to say. Still I am thrilled that she is far enough ahead to graduate early. :)</p>
<p>I bet you are!! My daughter is taking an extra year because she added a minor and a certificate in a couple of areas she was really interested in. But all of a sudden she is feeling burned out and wishes she had not added the extra year and that she was graduating now ot in the fall (can’t be done now because of scheduling stuff).</p>
<p>We consider ourselves very lucky… DD started out in a degree program… AP’s and EEP credit really gave her a leg up. She has never deviated from her initial degree decision. She will be turning 21 a couple months before she graduates, even has an job interview this week. crossing my fingers Her plan is to apply to Phd programs in the fall, but hopefully work for a good 9 months before starting back in at school. (great plan if it all comes together)</p>
<p>Best wishes for your D. We just went thru the PhD app process with our son who “graduated” last Wednesday (kind of…school ended because of tornados…so now he’s done.). </p>
<p>Anyway, while it all worked out, we had no idea in the beginning that the PhD process was so competitive if the program involves assistantships because schools can only afford to accept a small number per program. Even the so-called safety school programs that my son applied to later told him that they received 350-450 apps and only accepted 20-25 students (so, obviously not safeties in the end). The reach schools only accepted 10 students per program. </p>
<p>However, if your D is applying to a PhD program that doesn’t provide much/all funding, then they’ll accept a lot more students and getting accepted with be more reasonable. :)</p>
<p>Bren1995 - My D was part time her last semester. The scholarship and stafford loans only applied to full time students, so they were not in her last semester FA package. </p>
<p>The Stafford loans are distributed by semester per the federal govermant - so no chance you will be able to substitute that for the Parent loan. But you saved a semester of tuition and expenses - so you should still come out ahead! :)</p>
<p>DD spoke with Financial Aid, everything is by semester. So… although the school will save a bit on her scholarship, we save as well. Graduating a semester early, completely worth it.
Stafford is as Erin’s dad stated, by semester. All good,… could have been better, but still good :)</p>
Her plan is to apply to Phd programs in the fall, but hopefully work for a good 9 months before starting back in at school. (great plan if it all comes together)</p>