<p>My son is entering his sophomore year and last year was awarded a Stafford, a Perkins, and merit money. This year, we are told "the funding is not available" and "only freshmen are being offered the Perkins." Now...I can imagine they were using the loan to lure admits, but since 100% of the admits won't attend, there has to be some funding left over. The aid is not meeting our EFC - our EFC at this time will be about 8k less than what we have to pay. The FA director "doesn't do email" and "doesn't take phone calls" and the associate I spoke with resembled a brick wall on the phone. Our income went up somewhat but of course our investments and home value went down. The school has 5000 undergrads and is a private university.</p>
<p>So - HELP! How can I appeal this - they do not make it very user friendly through regular channels. </p>
<p>how much was the Perkins money. My son gets 2400. If they took that away I’d have to either pony up the $$ or agree to the 2K in unsubsidized stafford (in addition to the full subsidized stafford he takes out each year).</p>
<p>As I understand it, the schools get perkins money paid back to them from students once they have graduated. It’s not funded by the govt like stafford loans/grants. If the school isn’t collecting back enough perkins loans from former students, then they have a limited pool of money to go back out and they can choose to give it to whoever they want</p>
<p>You can ask if there is anything left over, after all the freshman allotments have been made based on who actually is showing up in the fall.</p>
<p>edit: your EFC is based on the Fafsa formula. RPI (the school I think you are referring to) uses the CSS profile so that FAFSA EFC is a moot point.</p>
<p>Most schools who offer Perkins loans have been forced to reduce the amount of students that receive Perkins funding for the upcoming year. At my institution, it is only available to returning students who received it last year. Perkins loans are partially funded by the Federal Government and the amounts appropriated for 09-10 have been reduced, so there just isn’t enough funding to go around. Some schools are offering institutional grants to replace the Perkins Loans…but mostly that is occuring at schools with large endowments.</p>
<p>probably best option is for the student to take out the unsubsidized
stafford if have not already done so. After that parent plus loans. I
doubt you’ll get anywhere with the finaid people. Looks like the stonewall
job.</p>
<p>AFter the Perkins runs out you get a Stafford Loan. that’s my understanding. It seems to be the way it is working for DD who is in second year. We will get less subsidized stafford and I think its all unsubsidized. But that is minor.</p>
<p>You can always write & try to get a Perkins. Where I work, we will not award Perkins - it is computer awarded based on set criteria. If it is not awarded, we absolutely will not give it to a student who requests it. We just don’t have the funding to give it to those who ask.</p>
<p>OP may have had Perkins IN ADDITION TO sub & unsub Stafford. At a school with a COA like RPI’s, that wouldn’t be unusual. So losing the Perkins may be a bigger deal than some think - it may not be possible to replace the money with Stafford.</p>
<p>OP, if you are not taking the PLUS … and if you think you might get turned down for a PLUS … you might want to apply for it. If turned down, your S can get another $4000 in unsub Stafford.</p>
<p>Much to respond to -
We had a stafford, and unsub stafford AND a Perkins his Freshman year -----
RPI uses the FAFSA, not the CSS (thank heavens, hated that form!)
Kelsmom - what’s a COA?
Need to look into the PLUS - I thought the PLUS was a consumer loan without the excellent terms of the stafford or perkins?</p>
<p>Would love your opinions on the unsub Stafford - we are only getting 1k on it and I never ran the numbers to see how this would work out in the end, accruing interest as we go. What are your opinions?</p>
<p>NIKKIl - Wish RPI had same policy - we had the Perkins last year and now they are taking it away from everyone except freshmen.</p>
<p>I agree on the stonewall - Who would I write to =- the Dir of F/A seems to have major gatekeepers around her (and heavens, she is under 30, that annoys me!) - I am an indep school administrator and this lack of accessiblity irritates me. Do I write to the Pres of the Univ? That would probably make things worse. There is NO regular communication from the dept of F/A - and that bugs me too. I feel captive…</p>
<p>Hoping to hear back, was on vacay last week and was happy to see this discussion when I returned!</p>
<p>Actually, our returning students are wishing they are freshman this year…those freshman who would normally receive perkins funding are getting a sweeter deal…a grant from the school in the amount they would have received as a perkins loan, instead of a loan that will have to be repaid later.</p>
<p>COA is Cost of Attendance … the budget that aid is based on. You can get aid up to the COA, but not in excess of COA (and often the “up to” includes a large PLUS loan).</p>
<p>You were only offered $1000 unsub? That’s odd. Your son is eligible for $2000 unsub … do you mean $1000 per semester? That would make sense. If he is a sophomore, his maximum Stafford will be $6500 … up to $4500 sub (based on need). It sounds as if you may have enough “need” to have been awarded $4500 sub/2000 unsub for the year. That is the most that your son can borrow in Stafford for the year (unless you are turned down for a PLUS … then he’d be able to borrow $4500 sub/6000 unsub).</p>
<p>Our school has an ombudsman. This person represents students when they have problems navigating the red tape at school. RPI may have something similar. If you are unable to speak with a manager or a director, you may want to check with the Dean of Students’ office for help. Do try to speak with someone from financial aid first, though. Be polite but insistent. I am sure RPI wants to give good customer service - financial aid is a stressful job right now, but the bottom line is that they are there to help.</p>