<p>Hi,
I am the first in my family to attend a university, so I don't know much about university life. I would love to be able to live on campus, but I can't even afford to attend the university. I was accepted for Fall 2012, and they gave me the trustees scholarship ($12,000). I also received something called the Chapman Grant ($12,000). I receive the FAFSA ($5,550) as well. I know this isn't enough to cover tuition, but I also receive the Cal Grant. I don't know how much the Cal Grant will turn out to be, so I don't want to rely on it. Does anyone know of a way that I can live on campus and pay for tuition without taking out a loan? I was accepted to a lot of other schools, but I'd really like to attend Chapman.</p>
<p>You’ve received some very generous aid from Chapman, but it may not be enough. You can take out a $5,500 Stafford Loan, but any borrowing beyond that would be inadvisable.</p>
<p>How much is Chapman’s estimated Cost of Attendance and how much do you have covered? In other words, what’s the difference between the amount of aid you have received and what you have to pay Chapman to attend? Those are the numbers you need to know.</p>
<p>According to the book they sent me, tuition is about 20,520 per semester. Double Room and Board is about 6,917. If anything, I’d just be glad to somehow be able to afford tuition. I don’t have a job, so getting a loan wouldn’t be so smart. I plan on doing the work study though.</p>
<p>So, you’re looking at COA of $48,000 and grant aid of $29,000. Even with a max Cal Grant, you would have about a $10,000 gap.</p>
<p>The only way to even start reasonably filling that gap would be to take out a max $5,500 Stafford Loan, which gets your gap down to $4,500. Borrowing the Staffords is a reasonable amount of debt.</p>
<p>However, that still leaves a significant funding gap.</p>
<p>Could you commute to Chapman and not live on campus? That would save $7,000, meaning that you could just take out a small Stafford Loan and be fine.</p>
<p>Taking a $5000-a year loan is pretty typical; I agree that more is not advisable. Did Chapman give you work-study? A 10-hr a week job would give you a few thousand off that gap. You’d have to hustle to find an on-campus job but you can find a job that can last your whole 4 years.</p>
<p>Do go talk to the financial aid people at Chapman and ask for their help if figuring out how to deal with the remaining gap.</p>
<p>Thank you both for replying. I’m thinking I’m going to commute. That leaves me with a need of about $9,000. Do any of you know how much is cal grant b worth?</p>
<p>The max is 1551</p>
<p>Were you offered any student loans? You’ll need those to help with the gap.</p>
<p>Since Chapman meets need are you saying that your family isn’t helping with the EFC?</p>
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<p>The only two ways to do this w/o loans would be if chapman offered you a full ride, or if you got some external scholarship. Unfortunately, neither apply.</p>
<p>You should be getting Calgrant A since Chapman is a 4-year institution (if memory serves, it’s like 10K) however, you’ll still have a significant funding gap. And that can only be filled in by work study and loans. </p>
<p>You could always apply for scholarships next year, but they’re not guaranteed.</p>
<p>My efc is $50 I think or 0 since that’s usually the case.
So far I was able to get a scholarship through my community college. I’m not sure how much its worth yet. Ill know in a week or so.</p>
<p>I also forgot to mention, the work study is estimated to be 3,000.</p>
<p>Did any of the other schools that accepted you offer a better financial aid package?</p>
<p>I got accepted to UCI, UCSB, UCSC, CSUF, CSULA,CSULB but I’m not sure if I can afford any of those. I know that I got some state grant or something for each though.</p>
<p>Each one of those schools should have sent you a financial aid package, all with a starting cost of attendance at least 30% less than Chapman.
Yesterday was May 1…which school did you commit to?</p>
<p>If you still need to compare aid packages, run the numbers here: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) Chapman seems to be your clear favorite, but it may not be affordable for your family. Can you take a year off to create a better application list for yourself?</p>
<p>If you do attend Chapman, you might want to consider taking some CLEP exams to cut down on the total credits needed while at Chapman. Their website states that they will grant credit for CLEP passing scores, but you would need to check with their registrar and/or academic advisor to discuss which exams you could take that would meet their requirements (usually general ed equivalencies). Depending on the limit of CLEP credits, it is highly possible for you to shave off up to a year’s worth of tuition.</p>
<p>I’m going in as a transfer student, so I have till June 1st.
I need about 8,000-9,000 to afford tuition. My financial aid still doesn’t include the cal grant B nor a scholarship I recent won from my school. I’ve heard the cal grant is about 9,000 for private universities. Is that correct?</p>
<p>I can’t take a year off from school. I’m going in as a transfer, so I already spent some time out of high school. I don’t want to lose time. I like going to school. It gives me a purpose.</p>
<p>Are you a junior transfer or a sophomore? That makes a difference in the amount that you can borrow through the Stafford Loan program. I’d suggest that you call the financial aid office at Chapman, and speak with the head of that office - just whoever picks up the phone first. You need to understand the details of your aid package, and only one of the officers can explain them to you.</p>
<p>That should be “not just whoever picks up the phone”. Sorry! I can’t edit well on the I-touch.</p>
<p>You also could ask about how to read your aid packages over in the Financial Aid Forum. Look for kelsmom there. She used to be a financial aid officer.</p>
<p>What about a summer job? Perhaps try to work full-time during summer and part-time during the school year. Keep in mind that many students out there do hold jobs while attending school.</p>