<p>So I got a financial aid package. ~$9000 in grants (Pell+school grants) and ~$8000 in loans (Stafford sub+unsub). My COA is ~$21000</p>
<p>However, due to some circumstances, I will be living with my parents. This drops my COA to ~$12500 (orignial COA - room and board costs).</p>
<p>Now I know schools can't give more aid than the COA. I'm worried that the school will take away most of the school grants save for the Pell grant, instead of just allowing me to not take a bulk of the loans.</p>
<p>Anyone else dealt with this? What was the outcome?</p>
<p>Just call and ask…you don’t even need to go into detail, simply ask the question “If I decide to live at home, what will be reduced in the financial aid package - grants or loans.” It could also be dependent on your EFC, but if you received Pell your EFC is probably very low comparably. My guess is grants of course, but you just never know.</p>
<p>Ugh 
I was hoping they would reduce loans. Has anyone else ever had to change their housing status and saw a reduction in their grants (as opposed to loans)?</p>
<p>The only good news is that they might allow you keep more of your subsidized eligiblity, which is what you want since you dont have to accumulate interest while you are in school. For example, you say the New COA IS $12500; if you can keep your Pell grant (whatever that is) + the full subsidized Stafford loan, that might be able to keep you from taking out those unsubs at all.</p>
<p>Your school likely has a different COA for students living at home that may have a higher transportation budget and some meal allowance, so it may not end up as low as you think. Pell is $5550 next year for a full grant, Staffords are capped at $7500 (sub + unsub). It’s possible you may keep at least some of your school’s institutional funding and be able to reduce your loans. It really depends on the school’s FA policies…call them!</p>
<p>Most schools will keep the same ‘self help’ number, so lower the grant first. You should, however, also be alble to lower the loans as most budgets for living off campus are inflated.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, thank you for bringing up that point! I looked into it and saw that the COA would actually be about $15000. With my EFC, I am only eligible for $3700. My Stafford Loan + Perkins Loan is $8300. My total need is (COA-EFC) ~$13000. I would still be short $1000, so I might still keep some grants (which was about $4000). I was hoping they would reduce loans rather my grants so I wouldn’t go over the COA…</p>
<p>I’ll call early this week to make sure. Thanks for all the replies!</p>
<p>Here is how you figure out your eligibility at a FAFSA-only school:</p>
<p>COA-EFC-Need</p>
<p>The school cannot award need-based aid in excess of the Need. If the combination of grants & subsidized loan do not exceed the Need, your aid package will most likely not change (can’t say “won’t” as schools do have their own way of packaging within the guidelines - especially concerning institutional grants). </p>
<p>Your total aid cannot exceed the COA. What is your year in school? $8300 is a strange number for Stafford & Perkins — what is the actual breakdown of sub, unsub, Perkins? Are you a junior or senior? If so, is the actual Stafford $7500? Are you dependent or independent?</p>
<p>Sub: $5500
unSub: $2000
Perkins: $800 (Is there a limit to this? I remember I took out a $2000 Perkins loan my freshman year (when I had a much higher EFC)).</p>
<p>I am a dependent senior (to be honest, I am in my 5th year, graduating in the fall).</p>
<p>My total aid (excluding any institutional grants) is $13000. With the other grants, it shoots up to $17500.
My COA (staying at home) is $15300-ish.
My EFC is 1800.</p>
<p>COA=15,300 EFC=1800
COA-EFC=15300-1800=13,500 Need</p>
<p>13,500 Need-9000 grants=4500 remaining Need</p>
<p>You can receive a combination of subsidized Stafford & Perkins loans up to the $4500 remaining need (this depends on your school’s policies regarding Perkins). It probably would be $4500 all sub Stafford, since this loan has a lower interest rate than Perkins in 2010-11.</p>
<p>Now for unsubsidized eligibility: 15,300 COA-9000 grants-4500 sub Stafford/Perkins=$!800</p>
<p>So … you’ll PROBABLY receive the 9000 in grants, $4500 in subsidized Stafford, $1800 unsubsidized Stafford for a total of $15,300.</p>
<p>So (and this might be a dumb question) typically schools first award grants then try to cover the remaining need with loans?</p>
<p>I really appreciate the input kelsmom!</p>
<p>They award federal/state grants first, then institutional aid, then the dreaded loans to fill in the blanks (hopefully). I think the exception is when scholarships meet or exceed the COA and the grant/loan portion must be reduced - then Pell remains with the scholarships and everything else goes away.</p>