Hello guys. Today I looked on my cunyfirst. I attend Queens College. Anyway I was expecting about $900 for my refund the semester because I have a subsidized loan as well as my Pell Grant. It said that I’m only getting $130 back and when I checked it’s because they only use $300 from my Pell Grant when I have $1,500 in Pell. What’s going to happen with that money? I really needed my refund check and thought I was going to get it. Who is in charge of this? Who decided that they were only going to use 300 of $1500? Was it to avoid giving me $900? Last semester I got about $800 back. That you was my full Pell and my loan? In fact they lowered my pell and a little bit of my loan and I still got a full refund. And they did the same this semester.
How many credits are you taking?
Did you use any Pell funds last summer?
@thumper1 I’m part time. I’m taking 9 credits this semester. Last semester I took 10 credits. I haven’t taken any summer courses.
All of my pell was used last semester. Which is not so long ago.
Ok…so I’m needing clarification.
Was your financial aid award for $1500 per semester?
@thumper1 yes per semester. I get about 3,000 in pell as a whole.
Ok…that $1500 per semester would have been for a FULL time student. You are not a full time student…it looks like you are actually taking less than a 1/2 time courseload. That being the case…your Pell Grant would be less than 1/2 of that $1500.
@kelsmom do I have that correct?
@thumper1 actually I made a mistake it’s 1,100. However, since I am part time that number is the revised lower amount. If I was full time I would be getting about 1700 according to my FAFSA. So I assumed I would be getting the same amount again. I’m taking more than 6 credits. 12 credits is full time. I’m taking 9.
They lowered it last semester since I was part time as well. So I’m confused as to why I’m not getting that full amount again if I’m doing the same thing again.
The way it works is that you get 50% of your annual Pell amount if you take 12 or more credits. 9-11 credits is 37.5% of the annual total. It sounds as if you should get the same amount this semester as you did last, but … if you added any of your credits after the formal end of the drop/add period … even if you had approval from the Registrar … Pell cannot be increased. Did you do a late add?
@kelsmom no. I registered two weeks before school started. I always end up doing that because I’m saving money. And my payment was due on 1/21. Everything went smoothly because my aid was already set up. Same amount and same status. I didn’t drop any classes or add any after the semester started.F
@kelsmom the last day to add/drop a course was the 29th I believe. Of January.
Can you look at your student account history? Make sure you didn’t have any interim adjustments made last semester or this semester. Were you verified? If so, the Pell amount might have changed & you may not have realized. Or did you make any changes to your FAFSA that might have resulted in a higher EFC, which would have caused your Pell to automatically be adjusted downward? If not, it’s possible there is a mistake on the part of the aid office. You can ask to have a financial aid officer review your account. Make sure they explain to you exactly what happened. If there was a mistake, they can fix it. If there was no mistake, they can explain what happened.
@kelsmom I looked at my account history today. I still have the same amount coming to me. I haven’t looked at my FAFSA since last summer. All I know is my pell was lowered which I was expecting because of me being part time. I did this math in the summer. If they are allowed to take barely any of my pell theres still around the same amount left over. Where is the money?
@kelsmom I haven’t even touched my FAFSA.
The school may have. Were you selected for verification … did you have to turn in documents? If so, that may be what happened. The best way to find out is to talk to an aid officer. They will be able to figure it out.
@kelsmom verification was done in the summer but maybe they did look at my FAFSA but they’ve never done that ever. MY fin aid process and amount has always stayed the same.
Okay, time to stop worrying & start enjoying your weekend. You won’t know the answer until you talk with someone in the financial aid office. Relax and have fun in the meantime, instead of worrying!
@kelsmom hello. If my school sent out the refund check can I still go to them?
If you think the refund check was incorrect…I hope you have a bank statement with the amount…
Take that with you.