<p>I have nerve damage in my wrists and can’t grip well enough to hold a pencil. Trust me, I would rather be able to just buy pens. Convenient is not the word.</p>
<p>And, in case you missed that post, it isn’t as though anyone but me will be paying for it-- I don’t receive anything but unsubsidized loans. So it’s not like I am taking advantage of anything, I am paying for it in the end with interest.</p>
<p>The CC my son (and I) used to go to also started doing their financial aid refunds using a debit card system called the red card. It is the only method to get the refund from the school. I guess it is ok for kids who do not have a bank account. I read all the blurb on the red card web site in depth and managed to figure out how to have the money immediately transferred to his bank account. It was not that hard, but they make the info a little obscure and hard to find. I am guessing very few students take the time to figure out how to do this. Every time FA refunds are processed the red card people send emails saying how he can get his money quicker if he uses the card. He was fine waiting for a day or two and would rather have it in his bank account.</p>
<p>We personally found it irritating when they changed from giving the students a check to putting the money on a debit card. My son was living in a rented house and for him the debit card was not convenient for paying rent etc - plus he had had a bank account forever. Other than that it is really does not affect how a student can spend the money. The money in the bank system can just as easily be spent on Pizza as the money on the debit card.</p>
<p>I did wonder why the school does it. My daughter’s much larger school has a much more efficient FA department and their refunds are either direct deposited or sent by check. I did kind of wonder if the CC gets paid by the red card company to have the refunds paid this way. I don’t really see the point otherwise.</p>
<p>^^
Vendor acceptance of debit cards is far from universal, but I can promise you one thing: they are <em>always</em> accepted at the local Uni bookstore and approved locations around the campus.</p>
<p>Beyond considerations of immediately cashing in on increased student spend on campus, I suspect another motivation for the college is streamlined bureaucracy. The debit card company becomes the ‘bank’, freeing up the college department of the chore. Kickbacks (aka revenue sharing) would not surprise me, but the financial advantage is usually a bit more subtle.</p>
<p>*I’m currently paying for a meal plan I can’t use because of my food allergies and am having to pay for that AND groceries, and this year I did not get any loan refunds and I am really struggling. Eating pretty much nothing but bagels. *</p>
<p>I would think that you could get some kind of medical waiver to get out of a meal plan req’t. Either that or the school must feel that it offers enough choices that you’re not allergic to. I don’t know about your school, but my kids’ dining halls have enough choices that would accomodate nearly everyone. </p>
<p>When you buy your own food, what do you buy/eat???</p>
<p>As for over-inflating COA…I never said that schools should have it figured out to the exact penny. Of course there needs to be some small amount of padding to accomodate the odd semesters with expensive books or other very normal school-related expenses. However, students should be encouraged to earn a decent amount (summer jobs and part-time jobs with minimal hours during the school year) rather than resorting to student loans just to have more free time - which is what some students admit to doing.</p>
<p>^For the most part, summer and term-time jobs are counted in workstudy and students are penalized (on next year’s FA) if they earn more than the allocated amount.</p>
<p>^ My college figures $2,000 - $2,600 of summer earnings into our family contribution. That’s a fair bit of money for students who have to foot their own living expenses during the summer. Having more than that left over to help with other expenses during the school year is unrealistic.</p>
<p>This really isn’t any different than getting a refund check for your excess loans and putting it in your checking account, and then spending it on pizza a beer. Students take out loans not just for tuition and fees but also for living expenses. When I was in college I had to wait weeks - sometimes months - for my loan refund to be issued (I’m in graduate school and my refund is done electronically, and I STILL didn’t get it until early November). This way students have access to their living expense loan earlier.</p>
<p>I dont like the fact that someones taking money from money I borrowed, Gerbert said.</p>
<p>LOL! How do you think student loan corporations make any money? what does she thing origination fees or interest are?</p>
<p>While the company notes the conference included 20 hours of meetings and educational sessions over five days, there was also a lesson in wine tasting from one of the vineyards experts, and time for spa treatments and tours of the Meritages vineyards.</p>
<p>This also isn’t any different from any other conference, academic or otherwise. I go to research conferences once or twice a year. They are almost always held in expensive hotels at attractive locations and have some kind of entertainment, either officially sanctioned by the conference or unofficially associated with it. I went to Las Vegas in November on my advisor’s research grant.</p>
<p>^^ Most colleges probably assume that you will live at home and work, without living expenses. Which is unrealistic for many, but is what it is.</p>
<p>In any case, my comments were directed at mom2collegekids’s complaint about over-inflating COA for indirect expenses. If those expenses weren’t in the COA, then students couldn’t borrow to meet them. And, let’s say that the summer earnings contribution was reduced to $1500… if the student earns $2500, then $1000 is considered income to be docked at a considerable % (I think 40%) from next year’s FA. [Disclaimer: I am not an FA officer.]</p>
<p>For well supported students with people and finances to easily fall back the arguments against extra FA money and inflated COA might be valid. The problem is that many students, like myself, have nothing to fall back on. </p>
<p>I think the COA is ok being a tad higher than absolutely necessary. I totally believe in living as economically as possible but not to the point where it detracts from one’s education. </p>
<p>And like it or not, a computer is quickly becoming necessary for college. Even though at many schools it isn’t officially required, being without a computer puts the student at a severe disadvantage. Often the cost of a computer is incorporated into the COA. </p>
<p>The student is going to pay either way, whether it be now by suffering through poverty or after graduation through loan payments.</p>
<p>My son took out a 5K subsidized Stafford Loan. Apparently, his grants and costs left him with 3K overage in aid which they wanted to send him. Both semesters he went down to financial aid and made sure the money was not sent but taken off his loan balance. Then we worked to pay off the 2K throughout the year. Sure that money can go to “good” use but if you can work to earn that same money, the benefit of little of no debt cannot be over emphasized. I’ve been there.</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to FA. I think the biggest is repaying the debt. It might sound like smiles and good times during college with FA. Sooner or later, a very mean person is going to be calling you and knocking at your door every day. It’s all down hill from there. </p>
<p>It’s best to keep the access for emergencies and to pay off the debt later.</p>
<p>On the other hand, what really gets me mad is scholarships. Half of the time scholarships are taken advantage of. I knew of one rich family at my school that saved up and over $100,000 for their two children to go to college. </p>
<p>The daughter got a full ride scholarship. Her parents use the college money they saved for their daughter to send her on vacations to Europe. She plans on working as a museum manager.</p>
<p>Being that this couple is so old and had their children late in life, their son got his mother’s social security money until he turned 18. Each year he earned around 12K from social security. That money went to nice cameras, vacations, and other stupid things. (Keep in mind this is 100% legal!) Their son is now getting his college paid for via the army. He plans on working as a history teacher.</p>
<p>Sadly, you have kids that actually need the money to go to college. Kids that their parents can’t afford to even pay a fraction of their college. And these kids wind up having to apply for FA and pay it back, plus interest. </p>
<p>Now you talk about unfair and a waste of money!</p>
<p>^Those both sound like merit-based scholarships (the army scholarship definitely is). Thus financial need is irrelevant. Before the S can work as a history teacher, he will have to complete his service commitment to the army.</p>
<p>This is really a generation of debtors. The problem a lot of my fellow college students have is they don’t realize that loans and credit cards are money. This is especially true of college loans. Cards come back and hit you every month, so in a way they are better than this loan card. Students can easily rack up a bill when they only have to begin paying three years from now!</p>