full aid problems

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi</p>

<p>A little long story!
I have some problems with a full-aid scholarship from ucb...maybe someone can give me an insight...</p>

<p>The scholarship gives full financial need which is (budget - parent contribution).</p>

<p>my FAFSA EFC was about 2100, but UCB asked for our income tax file, and after evaluation, UCB's EFC was about 6000...</p>

<p>so, in my home-residence package, I receive about $8500 from scholarship, and still have to take $6500 loans (even though the scholarship is full aid...<em>confused</em>). Also, I don't get any Cal grant or Pell grant from UCB -- I was told that there is some sort of limits on how much grant I can get...
I get about $8300 in cal/pell grants other universities (including other UCs).</p>

<p>to summarize what I said:
Scholarship: 8500
Fed.Dir Loan Fall:1300
~~~~~~~ Spring: 1300</p>

<h2>Fed Parent Loan: 4300</h2>

<p>Total: $15000 (which is the budget for students who stay with parents)</p>

<p>Notice that loans (2feddir + parent) add up to $6000, which is also the UCB's efc for me.</p>

<p>1) I am not sure how my EFC changed that much, from $2000 to 6000 after re-eval. is it possible? my 5-member family (3students) makes $67k. UCB adjusted to $72k; even then efc shouldn't change that much.
2) are loans the same as expected family contribution? will the family have to loan $6000 AND contribute $6000??
3) I made the decision to stay at home when I filed FAFSA, before I received the scholarship. Will the scholarship cover dorm fees if I change my residence option now? (i believed it would, but not so sure after being told about grant limits...) I sent an email to scholarship dept, but haven't heard back. </p>

<p>4)a. This has more to do with admission: Should I instead go to calpoly as general engineering (my ucb major is undeclared l&s)? I would have to loan about $11k but be in on-campus housing. Thats about $3000 difference is loans, but still less than ~$8000 i would have to pay UCB if i choose dorms there. and in the end, engineering major is more likely to get higher income,right?
b. I could go to UCSB as chemical engineering. $9k loans + $2000 parent contribution + $13k grants = ~$23k on-campus housing budget. BUT the potential problem is $2k parent budget is "subject to verification"...and UCSB has not explicilty asked our tax forms. I don't want the efc suddenly increased to $6k after I accept their admisison.</p>

<p>Sorry :-( -- I am not very informed about finaid, though I received lots about admission from here. thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>I can't answer all your questions, but I do know that when they say "meet demonstrated need", they can meet a lot of it with loans and work-study. Loans and work study are part of your financial aid, not part of your family contribution, even though you have to earn the money/pay it back. $2000 to $6000 sounds like a big jump to me, do you know if you made any mistakes on the fafsa? i know mine changed a couple times as colleges made adjustments after getting tax forms. Mine only changed about a hundred dollars, though. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>If your parents are self-employed, UCB adds back things like depreciation, home ofice deduction, tax losses, etc. This can increase your income.</p>

<p>The pell grants & cal grants should be offered by those entities. Try emailing your fin aid counselor- they are very ehlpful. Ask her/him why the grants do not show at UCB but do show at SLO.</p>

<p>As Cynthia said, loans are part of aid. You pay your EFC, then some day you pay back loans. Also, work study $ are not guaranteed, though having one makes it easier to get a campus job, but you still have to work to earn the $$.</p>

<p>I would also suggest asking the fin aid counselor about the change in residence....if you live on campus, you need to tell them by Monday, so you'd better fin out whether they will help pay!</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>Here is my theory:</p>

<p>According to UCB, my EFC is $6000.
Cost of attendance = $15000
Need = $15000-6000 = 9000...which is appox. the money I am getting for that scholarship right now.
The loans that appear on my offer are just ways to help me, I suppose.</p>

<p>I think I will do multiple intents to register (and not be refunded deposits) while I get this thing straighten out.</p>