<p>this may seem confusing but:<br>
if you're given loans as part of your FinAid at a college, are you basically forced to take out loans because the college assumes that there is no way you can finance your education with loans? or do they just expect you to ask for the loans that you actually need?</p>
<p>You can’t be forced to take out loans, if you have another way to finance your education you can turn them down.</p>
<p>cman, my duaghter’s aid award consists of some grant money, some “tuition remission” from the school (it just means they knock a chunk of money off their standard tuition cost), and various loans (subsidized Stafford, unsubsidized Stafford, and a PLUS parent loan), and work-study.</p>
<p>The way her school does it is that you go to the Financial Aid Office website and log in to your information, then there are boxes next to each element of the total aid package and you can choose “accept” or “refuse” for each thing. You can pick and choose. Presumably everyone will accept the grant aid and the tuition remission, but the loans will depend on each student’s particular needs. You can also adjust the amount of the loans. For example, the unsubsized Stafford loan she was offered was for $4500. If she wanted, say, to just borrow $2000, she could enter that lower amount into the amount field and take out a smaller amount that way.</p>
<p>I assume it works more or less the same at most schools.</p>
<p>isn’t it weird? i was always under the pretense that when a school offers you finan aid, they’d offer more than just a list of loans. sigh, such is life i guess.</p>
<p>That’s because people do not realize that loans ARE financial aid - and they are the only form of financial aid many students are offered.</p>
<p>Does the FAFSA have to be completed every year to continue to receive unsecured Stafford Loans? Thanks!</p>
<p>hello - Yes, you have to file FAFSA every year you’re seeking Stafford money.</p>