Paying fall tuition

Paying for College
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<p>I posted this earlier under tution but did not get a clear answer. I am still somewhat confused by the replies. </p>

<p>My son is depending entirely on scholarships, grants and possible loans to attend school. He will most likely be offered some merit money from our flagship university if he chooses to attend due to ACT scores. My questions are:</p>

<li><p>If he does all of the financial aid paperwork on time, meets all of the deadlines and also turns in the FASA very early in January will his financial aid be available when the tuition is due in August?</p></li>
<li><p>How long does it usually take for the money to become available? </p></li>
<li><p>Will he be able to purchase books, pay for housing etc or is it more likely that the school will be requesting money from us and then reimbursing?</p></li>
<li><p>How strict are the Parent Plus loan requirements in terms of credit? I have an old bankruptcy that still shows on my credit profile. I have re-estblished my credit, have good job stability and length of employment etc</p></li>
<li><p>Would DS be able to get enough loans on his own to cover the first semester if it was a reasonably priced school such as state university?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I am a single parent and of course like many of us budgets are tight these days. I do not have enough money in savings to cover all of this so I am worried about it.</p>

2

<p>1/2/3 Usually the Pell grants, state grants, ans school grants and loans are available when tuition and room & board is due. If he is paying state tuition & R&B and has money left after all that is paid they usually rebate to him to use for books & other expenses.
If he has outside scholarships, a Byrd grant, ACG or SMART grants, those some times come later in the term, especially Byrd in the fall</p>

3

<p>
[quote]
1. If he does all of the financial aid paperwork on time, meets all of the deadlines and also turns in the FASA very early in January will his financial aid be available when the tuition is due in August?

[/quote]

It should be</p>

<p>
[quote]
2. How long does it usually take for the money to become available?

[/quote]

Your son should get an award letter (or in some cases the awards are posted on his page on the school's web site). At my daughters school (a large State U) the financial aid and scholarship money is credited to the bursars account at the same time as the tuition and fees etc is charged to the account.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
3. Will he be able to purchase books, pay for housing etc or is it more likely that the school will be requesting money from us and then reimbursing?

[/quote]

If he gets enough scholarship and need based aid to cover the cost of housing then you should not have to pay it and be reimbursed. Room and board is charged to the bursars account and if there is sufficient financial aid money it will cover the charges. Books can often be a lot cheaper from sources other than the school. My daughter never buys her books from her school because even the 2nd hand books are more expensive than buying them elsewhere. If he buys them elsewhere then they would have to be paid for probably before excess financial aid funds (if there are any) are refunded to him.</p>

<p>
[quote]
4. How strict are the Parent Plus loan requirements in terms of credit? I have an old bankruptcy that still shows on my credit profile. I have re-estblished my credit, have good job stability and length of employment etc

[/quote]

If you have re established your credit rating you s/b OK. If you apply for and are turned down for a PLUS loan your son becomes eligible for additional unsubsidized Stafford loans.</p>

<p>
[quote]
5. Would DS be able to get enough loans on his own to cover the first semester if it was a reasonably priced school such as state university?

[/quote]

It is hard to say. It really depends on what merit aid (scholarships) he is eligible for and what his EFC (as calculated by FAFSA based on your and his income & assets is. The main federal student loan, the Stafford, is capped at a maximum of $5,500 a year for a freshman. Whether that would be enough to cover him depends on what other merit aid and need based aid he gets.</p>

4

<p>Two good sources of information about financial aid are<br>
FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans and a thread from the top of this forum
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/377143-preparing-finaid-applications.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/377143-preparing-finaid-applications.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The finaid website has a lot of information about student loans and also about grants. It also has an EFC calculator
FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid</p>

<p>If you enter your information accurately in the calculator it will produce your EFC (Estimated Family Contribution). The EFC is used to calculate what you are eligible for as far as federal grant money. It is deducted by the school from their COA (Cost Of Attendance) to calculate your need. The COA usually consists of estimated average annual student costs for tuition and fees/room and board/books/miscellaneous/travel. Often it can be found on the school's web site. Scholarship generally reduces your need not your EFC.</p>

<p>There are 3 main sources of federal financial aid.</p>

<p>Grants</p>

<p>Pell Grant. Maximum for 2008-2009 = $4731</p>

<p>The main federal grant - the Pell grant is completely dependent on your EFC. For this school year the cut off for Pell grant eligibility is <4042. An EFC of 4042 and over there is no Pell eligibility. An EFC between 0 and 4041 means he is eligible for a Pell grant - the amount depends on the EFC. A 0 EFC = full Pell of $4731. As the EFC rises the amount of Pell decreases until it is 0 once the EFC reaches 4042.</p>

<p>SEOG - maximum up to $4000 depending on the school. (my daughter's school a State U awards a maximum of $2,000). The SEOG is difficult to get and harder to predict than the Pell. It is a limited funds grant meaning the school is only given $x and once $x is awarded there is no more. While the Pell is completely dependent on your EFC the SEOG depends on the schools policy. AT my daughter's school a 0 EFC is required for SEOG.</p>

<p>ACG Academic Competitiveness Grant. First 2 years of school only - currently a maximum of $750 for a freshman, $1350 for a sophomore. It requires Pell eligibility. It also requires meeting certain academic criteria.</p>

<p>SMART$4,000. 3rd and 4th years. Requires Pell eligibility and certain majors.</p>

<p>Also your State may have need based grants. Check with your State education authority. Eligibility for State grants may be based on the FAFSA EFC (it is in our state) or require a separate application. Your school may have their own need based grants.</p>

<p>LOANS
Stafford The total for a freshman is $5500. Can be subsidized (maximum $3500) or unsubsidized. Subsidized means the Govt pays the interest until 6 months after graduation (or dropping below 1/2 time). Requires need (as defined by COA less EFC). Unsubsidized the student is responsible for the interest from day 1. The maximum of $5500 can be all unsubsidized if there is no 'need' or a combination of subsidized (up to a max of $3500) and unsubsidized. The combination of the 2 cannot exceed $5500 freshman year.</p>

<p>Perkins. Possible maximum $4000. Subsidized. Limited funding and very hard to get. Anecdotal evidence on these forums indicate that some schools received no Perkins money to award this year.</p>

<p>Federal Work Study A Work Study award enables the student to get a WS job - usually on campus sometimes certain community service jobs. The jobs must be applied for and are paid on an hourly basis. The money iis paid to the student in a paycheck.</p>

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<p>swimcatsmom:</p>

<p>Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this so thoroughly for me. It helped a great deal.</p>