<p>I'm a senior at WSU and I want to borrow as much as I can this year. I'm independent and make around 30K a year. I think I can qualify for a grant. I'm curious if I can borrow the max amount which is 12,500 and get a grant on top of that. Or if I get a grant does that lower the amount I can borrow? Thanks.</p>
<p>WSU? Which WSU? Have you filed the FAFSA? What is your EFC?</p>
<p>Grants are given before loans. Whether or not you get a grant depends on EFC and the school’s financial aid situation. More details may help us give you advice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>Washington State University.</p>
<p>I’m going to do my FAFSA this week. So i’ll report back. </p>
<p>Lets say I get a grant. Would I still be allowed to borrow 12,500 on top of that?</p>
<p>Your school has a cost of attendance (COA). You can be awarded aid up to the amount of your COA. Some of your loan will be need based, some will not (that is, it can be used in place of your Expected Family Contribution, which is the number generated from your FAFSA info). The need based portion of the loan will be subsidized, the rest will be unsubsidized (with maximum subsidized portion $5500, depending on your calculated Need, which is COA-EFC-grants/scholarships/work study).</p>
<p>Grants are awarded first, then subsidized loans, then unsubsidized loans. If your COA is > $12,500 you will be able to get the grants & the full amount $12,500 loans.</p>
<p>You need to HURRY & get the FAFSA in. You may already have missed out on some grants. I found this on WSU’s financial aid website: mportant: Our priority filing date for the 2009-2010 FAFSA of February 15th, 2009 has passed. If you have not applied, you should do so as soon as possible to maximize your chances to receive student aid.</p>
<p>Thanks. I just submitted my FAFSA. My EFC was 9495. From reading through some of these posts it looks like that is too high. Any chance I get some grant money with an EFC that high?</p>
<p>You won’t qualify for any federal grants with that EFC. Whether you qualify for any institutional grants depends on whether the school offers any institutional grants and what the criteria for awarding them is.</p>