<p>I didnt get a direct loan so could I request one?</p>
<p>Beautiful, since the Direct Loan is not part of your package, and you say this is for THIS year only, if you insist on U of Miami, I would suggest you get a job ASAP. See how much you earn and then take the direct loan for the balance of the shortfall. If you can earn $2500 between now and August, your additional loan would only be $2500.</p>
<p>You DO have other more affordable options, however.</p>
<p>COA is 60960
EFC is 48980
PS is 6000
Perkin loan 1500
coral grant 1480
work study 3000</p>
<p>What is PS???</p>
<p>You should be able to get a $5500 Stafford Direct loan to cover any shortfall…call the FA office and ask for one. Or you could economize. The COA could be padded. And, who will be paying for your flights back and forth? If your dad will pay those costs in addition to the EFC, then that’s chunk there, too.</p>
<p>Did you include both parents’ incomes on FAFSA?</p>
<p>PS is the scholarship I got and I will be paying for living expenses so I will be paying for the flights. And yes I did include both parents income</p>
<p>And make sure that your parents are OK with paying that full $60k plus cost in subsequent years. Your EFC will exceed the cost of attendance by almost double once your sibling is out of college.</p>
<p>Remember also that you won’t have work study money until you work and earn that money.</p>
<p>My stepmother will be paying instead of my birthmother. And Finances will not be a problem in upcoming years just this one! I also do not know how much my birthmother makes or where she is.</p>
<p>Then your dad and step mother’s incomes and assets would be required on the FAFSA. It sounds like you did this.</p>
<p>You need to discuss the finances of these schools with your dad and stepmom. Since they are paying the bulk of the costs, they need to feel they can actually PAY those bills.</p>
<p>PS is the scholarship I got and I will be paying for living expenses so I will be paying for the flights. And yes I did include both parents income</p>
<p>Well, if you’re paying for living expenses and flights, will you be doing that out of summer earnings? If not, how? </p>
<p>Do you really think your parents won’t pay for your flight home at Christmas time? Would they expect you to pay for that? If so, what would they do/say if you didn’t fly home then because you didn’t have the money? Would they then offer? </p>
<p>How much of the COA is personal expenses and travel? Somehow, I think it’s around $4k-5k. If so, then that’s the amount that you need.</p>
<p>Again, you can call the FA office about adding the Stafford Direct loans, but you should try to lessen the debt by earning over the summer.</p>
<p>2060 is the estimated personal expenses. My parents told me that I would only have to pay for my living expenses. so i am not really sure about the work study. I didn’t even know I qualified for it. I will ask my parents. And i will call the Fa office and I have already started to apply for summer jobs…hopefully I can get one.</p>
<p>Beautiful…apply for a job that starts NOW. You can work an evening or two and on weekends. </p>
<p>But also, please do look at the other acceptances you have. It looks to me like you would graduate without a PENNY of debt if you went to Pitt which is an excellent school…and a fraction of the cost of attendance from ALL of the other schools to which you have been accepted (except maybe Case).</p>
<p>Florida will still be there when it’s time for grad school.</p>
<p>YEs I am. I am also waiting for more decisions to come out. I can’t work during the school year because I go to a boarding school and I am not allowed to have a job while I am at boarding school. No other school gave me money besides Case, tampa and Miami. So I would have to pay full everywhere else but I do not plan to attend there</p>
<p>Beautiful, I saw your lists elsewhere. Keep in mind that you will very likely be expected to pay AT LEAST your EFC everywhere…unless you get merit aid.</p>
<p>Did you apply anywhere else that is within the financial parameters set by your parents?</p>
<p>Is it common to be offered a Perkins loan and work study when you have a high income and EFC (see post 19)?</p>
<p>I am just trying to understand how a college distributes these types of aid.</p>
<p>@thumper1 i do not believe so</p>
<p>@noname87, I did not think I would get any loans but the stafford loan but they did no give me that loan? idk Ill call tmr.</p>
<p>Re: Perkins loans. The schools actually determine who will get Perkins loans. So the school actually determines if the student has sufficient need to be offered one. For arguments sake, let’s say the OP’s share of the family income is $150k (since she has one sibling in college). Apparently U of Miami sees this as lower income in their accepted student group. I’m going to guess there are a LOT of full pay students in that group for that to be the case.</p>
<p>However, I am going to put this out there and it’s not likely to be a popular post. The OP attends private boarding school which is certainly a choice. The parents COULD have banked that money to support college costs. It bothers me that a family with a very high income, and the ability to pay for private boarding high school, is now going to receive a subsidized (Perkins are) loan and Work Study…which are funded by the federal government.</p>
<p>U of Miami was very generous in terms of granting need based aid to this student. The school does NOT guarantee to meet full need. </p>
<p>Certainly this OP can ask for a review of the financial aid package, but U of Miami practices enrollment management…it’s all over their finaid web page. That being the case, it is very possible they accepted this student figuring that IF she was willing to pay what they determined she needed to pay, she was welcome to attend.</p>
<p>I agree. It does seem very odd that this student would be getting fed subsidized loan and WS with a family income in the $300k+ range. And aren’t both of your parents doctors? (from your past posts…your dad is a doc and your stepmom is a doc at UPenn med school).</p>
<p>It just seems strange for taxpayers who earn a whole lot less money (a whole lot!!) to be subsidizing people with that income. </p>
<p>It would seem totally ok to give unsub loans. And, the OP can get those with Stafford Direct to go towards the EFC. But, subsidized Perkins? I thought schools were so limited with those loans that they only went to lowish EFC kids???</p>
<p>I still think your EFC is too low - even with two in college. With that income, the family total of EFC should be about $100k or more. I realize that the highest an individual’s EFC can be is $99k, but I don’t think that the total for two is limited to $99k, but I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Agree, Thumper but the schools get the money from the government and they can distribute it as they wish, correct?</p>
<p>Schools determine who is “low income” for Perkins loan purposes. </p>
<p>Like I said, I think the school did its best to be generous to this student, especially since the school does not guarantee to meet full need.</p>
<p>I do not understand why people on this thread are trying to judge how much money my parents “should be paying” for my college instead of answering the original question. how can I reduce the COA? What Umiami decided has been decided…</p>
<p>Tuition, room and board and fees total $55,166.00</p>
<p>Somewhere in that figure is student health insurance, it is probably about $1200-$1900 a year.
You can waive that if you are on your parents health plan. Deduct the $8980 in aid.</p>
<p>Work Study does not reduce your COA. You can earn $3000 on campus from your Work Study Job for spending money and travel. Health insurance is unknown at this point, so $55,166 minus $8980 equals a net price of $46,186. Can your parents make monthly payments for 10 months on the $46,186?</p>
<p>You can buy used text books online or rent textbooks, you do not need brand new textbooks!
I ship used text books from Amazon or Half dot com to my kids twice a year.</p>