This is my first year attending college and learning a lot of things on my own I recently took care of my financial aid for the fall semester and I have 9 credit hours my total cost for tuition was $1428 my federal Pell Grant was $1864 I had already received my book money of $600. By this time I had to get out of student loan subsidized and was waiting to receive half of $3,500 which would have been 1750 but it looks as though they paid my tuition with my loan and not my federal Pell Grant or financial aid or whatever should I not be receiving my full loan or did I get played
No, you did not get “played”. Contact the college financial aid office to straighten it out.
What do you mean by “book money”? Were you awarded a special grant?
@Kelsmom can verify how the Pell grant and loans are applied to bills. My understanding is this: The $1864 Pell grant is split by semesters, so you’ll be awarded $932 per semester. That will be applied directly to your tuition costs. If your semester tuition is $1428, the balance you still have to pay after applying your Pell grant to your tuition bill ($1864-932) is almost $500.
If you requested the subsidized student loan that $3500 is also split by semester, so you’d get $1750 for the fall. Your $500 tuition balance would come out of that leaving $1250 to be refunded to you (which you could pay back immediately or put in the bank to cover transportation and other expenses). If your $600 book money came from the loan then the balance to be refunded to you would be $650.
Go to your financial aid office and ask them to walk through your financial aid package with you. They aren’t trying to “play” you. There are rules they have to follow (the order funds are applied and how much can be applied per semester, for instance) and they’ll explain how it works. It’s important that you understand your financial situation so it’s great that you’re asking questions.
Because OP only took 9 credits she is only eligible for part of her financial aid. Op needs to take 12 credits to get full aid. Aid was cut because OP was not a full time student.
What is your EFC?
How much pell were you eligible for as a full time student?
Did you originally register for 12 credits and then drop to 9 credits (if this is the case, you may have been overpaid in the fall.
What does your original award letter say based on full time enrollment/
You will not receive half of the subsidized loan if your cost of attendance is covered. In addition, if you are not attending full time, your loan will also be prorated.
All of your federal aid is applied to your charges first. If there is extra money after the charges are paid, you will receive a refund of the excess aid. What were your total costs? What is your EFC? What is the total of your Pell and loans? If you post that info, we can better advise. (Your Pell is 1/2 the annual award per semester, and that half is reduced at 9 credits - it would be 75% of the half. If you got book money, it was probably an advance on your Pell, so don’t double-count that when you are figuring things out.)