<p>Just make sure that you keep those loans well documented. You don’t need to include them as assets for FAFSA when you file, but you have to make it clear that those came straight from the loans if verified. Otherwise if in you kids’s name that is 20 cents on the dollar added to the EFC directly, 5.6% if over your asset allowance if in your name.</p>
<p>Yes, take them, because if the cost of school goes up, or you need additional funds in future years, the Perkins could be gone, and he may need more than the Stafford sub which means taking out unsub loans that have a higher interest rate that crank up immediately.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your reply and advice. Our son to his credit didn’t want to take the loan(s) if they weren’t necessary so that he can keep his college debt down. But we tried to explain that even if he doesn’t need the money now, he might need it later, and then it will be gone. The $ will be in his savings account, but my strength is recordkeeping and I have fortunately (?) become all too familiar with the FAFSA, assets, etc. so I completely understand what you’re saying about the documentation.</p>
<p>The thing is, neither loan is accruing interest, and there is no guarantee that he will be offered the Perkins ever again, as the those funds tend to be limited at most school. The Staffords, he will likely be offered each year, but only what is allowed for that year. You can’t go back and claim what you let go. And most schools do increase in cost each year and also expect the student to take responsibility for more of the cost each year.</p>
<p>So those loans come to you as money, that you can put in an account? this is very good to know. for some reason I assumed they went directly to the school.</p>
<p>The school puts the FA package together and offers the loans to the student for acceptance by the end of the school year or else they are forfeited. If the student decides to take the loans offered, he goes to his My Awards page, accepts them, then follows the directions from there. Our son’s school – UC in California – states that they will process the loan(s) in 3 to 5 days at which time they will disburse the monies by direct deposit into a designated account.</p>
<p>If the Perkins is being used to pay bills from the college, it will be paid directly to the college.</p>
<p>That’s right . . . I forgot to tell ConfusedMom that the loans and other aid are used to pay the college expenses (tuition, fees, etc) first and whatever is remaining (if anything) is then disbursed to the student. In my son’s case, what was due to the college for spring quarter has been paid, so I am assuming that when he accepts the loans, they will be disbursed to his account but not 100% sure since we haven’t gotten that far yet. Think we’ll need to call the FA office again and ask.</p>
<p>Your loans will be disbursed to the college, not you. Your bill be less because you received the loans. The Perkins and Direct Loans are not disbursed directly to the student.</p>
<p>The only way you would receive this money is if you have a surplus in your bursar’s account at the end of the term. The school will refund the surplus to you.</p>
<p>Refund policies vary by school. The schools where I have worked refund immediately - no need to wait until the end of the semester.</p>
<p>We understand that the loans are disbursed to the college and then used by the student if needed. Since they are included in his FA package, and he still has the option to accept them, and since all his financial obligations to the college have been met, we expect a surplus in his account which should result in a refund.</p>
<p>As long as he is currently enrolled at least half time, if school is still in session, and if the deadline to request loans for the semester is not past, he should have no issues. He will need to complete all requirements (entrance counseling, Master Promissory Notes) before the end of the semester. The sub loan and the Perkins loan will each have a separate MPN. Make sure the Perkins is still available - sometimes Perkins funding is gone by this point in the year - the school should have canceled his loan offer in that case, but even if they didn’t … if there is no money for Perkins, there is no money. It’s different than the sub loan, because Perkins is a limited fund the school awards.</p>
<p>I was thinking the same about the Perkins. Hopefully they did retain the funds for him, even though he did not accept them. Sometimes those offers are not holds on certain loans. You may want to check on that. </p>
<p>Even an immediate refund can take a couple of weeks to process from the moment you set the gears in motion to when you get the check.</p>
<p>Oh ok. That is what I thought</p>
<p>Our son’s college doesn’t have an “expiration” on Perkins loan offers – I asked them this question and they said that if they offer it, you either accept it or forfeit it but they won’t cancel it – it just has to be accepted that school year. However, if you accept it at the end of school year, it is split out into three amounts (our son’s college is on the quarter system) and it is then submitted to the My Bill account that way. Sure enough, one third didn’t appear which made me think that the all the monies weren’t available. After contacting the FA office, they said they were glad I called because there was a glitch in their system but that the full amount was available.</p>
<p>I was wondering what the Perkins loan is and why I was only offered Stafford sub and unsub. Can anyone explain? Is it because I didn’t file by March 1?</p>
<p>Perkins loan is one of 3 federal aid programs known as campus based aid (the others are work study ad the SEOG grant). They have *very *limited funding. A school is given a fixed amount of money and sets their own policy for how to award that money. Their are usually more students that qualify for the money than there are funds available. Once the funds have been awarded, the school cannot get any more to award for that year.</p>