<p>Hey guys.
For the 2012-13 year I ended up losing a lot of my aid (my dad had to take out some of his retirement to keep from losing the house and my parents can no longer claim my 2 brothers as dependents so my EFC went up even though my parents are still broke). I'm really confused how my EFC went up so high, last year it was enough to get me 1800 from the pell grant and now it is at 12,000, i think I may have lost my work study too. I'm really worried now, I don't know if we filled out the FAFSA wrong or what but I just can't see how i lost the pell grant and my work study.... I even lost 1,000 on my subsidized loan :(...I am wondering how bad the interest would be on a 4000 unsub. loan if i can't make payments for 3 years till I graduate? I tried using the calculator on the stafford loan website but I can't figure it out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You probably should ask your school for a one year leave of absense so that your EFC will go back down.</p>
<p>You would be paying 6.8% annually on any unsub loan taken out starting this summer. Plus you will have an origination fee.</p>
<p>Would your parents get turned down for a PLUS loan? How is their credit? Isn’t there some provision that if the parents get turned down the student can get more Stafford loans? I don’t know if it would be sub or unsub though.</p>
<p>Losing work study shouldn’t be a big problem, just find a job on your own,</p>
<p>It’s important that you understand exactly what factors went into the change in your EFC so that it went up so high. The retirement funds that were taken out are taken as ordinary income and, yes,losing dependents has some effect, though not that heavy unless they were college students too. So look at the numbers, and see if this is truly a one time thing, and if taking a gap year, maybe taking some local courses working and helping your family out on some things would not make a difference. You do want to make sure you understand the impact of your earnings on your EFC as well so that you put away that portion to use towards school, since you will be so assessed.</p>
<p>Getting turned down by PLUS is tough. I’ve seen a lot of parents surprised when they are turned down, when they wanted to be. </p>
<p>Sit down and talk to your financial aid officer, figure out what is happening here with your EFC and aid, if it is truly a one time increase, what the school can suggest and what you can do.</p>
<p>This kid needs to take a one year leave of absence so that the impact of the retirement withdrawal goes away. He can work and earn up to about $6k without any EFC impact.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice guys, I talked to my financial aid person and they said they can appeal the retirement amount if they get documentation(this would allow me to get the full amount for my sub. loan).They also said I could continue work study, it just wouldn’t be counted as need based on my FAFSA next year.</p>
<p>Document, document, document. Bring in any letters from the bank. Bring in any big home repair bills. Bring in documentation of any big health expenses. Fin Aid officers are constantly hearing tales of woe – it is paperwork that helps them sort out who is truly in pain and who is telling a big windy. </p>
<p>Keep an eye on politics. Student debt load is a big issue and it may be that Congress finally addresses some items over the next twelve months. Do some regular internet searches on “student debt legislation” so you are up to date on what is in the wind (and use that knowledge to know when and how much to borrow). </p>
<p>Look for smart ways to cut costs. Cheaper dorm? Smaller meal plan? Taking a summer class at a lower rate? Anything online you can take to rack up credits? Review your SAT scores and high school GPA with a campus advisor and see if there were any credits you missed collecting (some colleges award 3 hours of English credit for a high SAT score, etc). “Watch the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves” said Ben Franklin. </p>
<p>Also check out Americorps, Coast Guard and any other opportunity where you might work a year or two and rack up some college tuition benefits. Keep on trucking!</p>
<p>CIA and other federal jobs MAY have loan repayment options as well, IF you’re interested in working for the federal government and qualify for their VERY COMPETITIVE positions.</p>