Recently the college I attend has changed my estimated bill and took out a lot of the tuition grant they gave me. The grant awarded was 8,400 and it is now 3,900 which is split between both semesters. I did receive $10,000 from outside scholarships which after the college was notified about it they then took away more and more money. They also took away my work study grant because I received “too much” money from scholarships. Before without notifying them about the $10,000 my estimated bill was only about $2000 and after notifying them my bill is now about $8000 which I cannot afford. I have gone to talk to them and all they did was give me more loans which even still I would have to pay $5000 if I were to accept them. Is there any way I can get some of the grants they gave me back or is there other ways to pay? If I don’t have the money by the due date what will happen?
Can you start at the beginning?
Total costs at your college are X and you are in your sophomore year? Junior year? graduating this year?
You are receiving Y in need based aid from the college, 10K in outside scholarships, have taken out Z in your federal student loan. You are Pell eligible or not?
Give us the full facts so we can help you. But one fact remains- you are obligated to tell the college about your outside scholarships. Whether you tell them this week or in six months the bottom line is the same- if you have less need, because you got money somewhere else, they are going to give you less institutional support.
You can get a job regardless of whether you are getting work study or not- and you can likely make MORE money with a non work study job… so get cracking applying.
When is the due date and when do classes start? Are you getting any financial support from your family?
Turn down the outside scholarship and go back to your original award. If that included work study, that money ‘won’t be there’ when you start school.
I don’t understand…
Your Grant was $8400 and now it’s $3900… so your college grant is now $4500 less. BUT you now also have $10,000 in an outside scholarship. You should still have a net gain after receiving your outside scholarship. So your total grant/scholarship for this year is $13,900…which is just about $5000 MORE than before you got the outside scholarship.
In terms of work study…that’s not a grant…it’s money to fund a job that you get. It’s a form of need based aid. You can get a regular job instead. Many college campuses have jobs for students. Start at the dining hall…they usually have openings. So do the call centers.
If your aid hasn’t exceeded the cost of attendance, you can take out a Direct Loan in your name if you filed a FAFSA. If you are a second year student, that amount is $6500. It will be divided equally for each term.