Hi, I’ve received my financial summary from my school, and I need to take out some loans, but I’m not sure when to start and how much I need. I’ve applied to many scholarships, but I’m still waiting for them to reply. My financial aid summary said it’s an estimate of what I can receive(federal aid) for the following academic year, so does that mean nothing is final yet? Do I have to wait for the bill to come before taking out loans? Also, can someone explain the process of the loan entrance counseling to me since I’m pretty confused with it?
Thanks so much!!
You need to look at how much your school charges for tuition and fees, as well as room and board (if you are living on campus). You then will subtract out your financial aid (grants and scholarships) from that figure. The remaining amount is what will be owed to the school. You can then borrow the federal direct stafford loan for up to $5,500 as a freshman to help cover those costs.
Your aid is likely an estimate until your school verifies what was reported on the FAFSA. You can log back in to the FAFSA and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to link all of your family’s tax figures over from the IRS. Your school may also want you to submit additional tax paperwork (W-2s, etc.) Review your student portal for requirements, or call your school’s aid office to see what needs to be turned in to finalize your award.
You do not need to wait for a bill to accept your loans. You either got a paper offer letter where you sign for the loans or you can accept the loan and the amount you wish to borrow through your student portal in the financial aid section.
The loan entrance counseling is an online tutorial you are required to complete as a first time loan borrower. You log-in to studentloans.gov to complete the counseling. It is a tutorial to help you understand the loan process better and to give you an idea on what you might have to pay back when you are finished with school. This is just a tool - it will ask you to input loan amounts, how much you might be earning with a job, etc. These are only estimates you need to input to help you understand the loan process, you can play around with different numbers to get an idea on what your loan payments will look like.
Wasn’t there already loans in your FA pkg?
What is in your pkg (breakdown)
what is the school’s COA breakdown
Do you mean your federal student loans or are you needing to take out extra loans if the scholarships don’t pan out?
@mom2collegekids. A total of $3500 for fall and spring, and $1750 for summer.
@BrownParent. The amount of federal student loan I need. I’m not sure how much I need because I’ve applied to many scholarship but I’m still waiting for their reply.
You can always accept the loan money and then if you do end up receiving a scholarship later on, your school can process a loan fund return for you in the amount you specify anytime during that academic year.
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@mom2collegekids. A total of $3500 for fall and spring, and $1750 for summer.
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You’re practically at max loan NOW. You can only borrow $5500 for the year, and that totals to almost $5500.
Can you ask the FA office when you need to accept the loans by? My daughter also applied to some local scholarships. I’m thinking that we will hear by June if she receives any of them. But not sure. I hope to know by the time the bill comes how much if any loans we will need to take out. You don’t have to take out the whole amount, do you?
No one has to take out loans that aren’t needed. and you don’t have to know the amounts now anyway. Besides, the second semester loans would certainly not yet be awarded. The first semester loans wouldn’t be awarded until Aug/Sept anyway.
Thank you.
Thanks everyone for replying!!