<p>Daughter received her award letter in today’s mail - Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>I got my notice, too! Hooray!</p>
<p>^Where are you, giftedgothic?</p>
<p>And does anyone know if those who did not receive the scholarship get some form of notification? Or does a lack of response simply imply that the student didn’t earn one?</p>
<p>Western PA. </p>
<p>I’m not sure. It might depend on the state.</p>
<p>Well, I know NY has heard already, and I don’t believe I got anything. I would, however, like a formal notice of the fact that I am indeed a loser.</p>
<p>But thanks for your response. :)</p>
<p>Eastern PA - Received mine yesterday!</p>
<p>Anyone from PA hear that they did NOT receive the Byrd scholarship. Our mail is always 1 day behind and there’s nothing there today from PHEAA. I’m assuming that means if you hear nothing, you’re not receiving anything. Will PHEAA also send a letter saying “sorry - no luck”? Also for those who heard from PHEAA is there anything in their AES account indicating that they received the scholarship?</p>
<p>@ksharonda10: I logged into the PHEAA website, and it didn’t have mention, anywhere, that I received a RCBHS. The only form of communication regarding status has been through mail.</p>
<p>Thanks seniOr10. I called PHEAA a little bit ago to ask if everyone who applied (and qualified) received notice. I was told yes. They said both sets of letters went out by the end of last week. I got the impression that the good letters went out first. Oh well. Congrats to those who were lucky enough to snag one! From what I hear, though, you won’t actually see the money until the end of your second semester. Not sure why that is, but a fomer recipeint told me that the Byrd money is VERY slow. Must be a PHEAA thing.</p>
<p>The cover letter reads as follows:</p>
<p>"Dear Student:</p>
<p>The Federal Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (Byrd), administered
by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance (PHEAA), first awarded
funds in 1987 and was named in honor of United States Senator Robert C.
Byrd of West Virginia. His long time commitment to education was
recognized by his colleagues with the creation of this merit scholarship
program.</p>
<p>I am happy to report that because of your academic achievement and
excellence among your peers, you have been selected for a Byrd Scholarship
for the 2010-11 academic year in the amount of $1,500 for your first year
of full-time undergraduate study at an approved institution of higher
education. The scholarship is renewable each year, up to a maximum of
three additional years, based on available funding and on your continued
eligibility for the program. This will, I hope, act as a stimulus to your
continued high achievement in your postsecondary school studies.
Enclosed you will find the “Recipient Agreement” and “Statement of
Registration Status” forms for completion and signatures. You will need
to make copies of both forms once they have been completed. Please submit
the original forms to PHEAA by July 31, 2010, and provide the copies of
the completed forms to the financial aid administrator at your institution
of higher education. Submitting these forms tc PHEAA and your institution
of higher education is a requirement of the Byrd Program. The monetary
portion of your award will be released to your institution after the
return of the requested forms and once federal funds become available
after October 1, 2010. The forms should be mailed to PHEAA at the
following address: Byrd Program, P.O. Box 8157, Harrisburg PA, 17105-8157,
or faxed to (717) 720-3786.</p>
<p>PHEAA hopes that your first year of academic study at your institution
of higher education is a rewarding one. On behalf of the Board of
Directors and PHEAA staff, I wish you well in your future endeavors."</p>
<p>Eww. At the earliest 10.1.10. What do I do? Take a subsidized loan and cancel it once funds are issued? But even then I’d have a loan origination fee. Grr.</p>
<p>I guess that means if the federal government passes a budget by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. Rarely does that happens. The government typically operates under a continuing resolution for several months. That must explain why most people don’t see the money until well into the second semester of the school year.</p>
<p>I just received my letter from PHEAA. No money for me. There were 2568 applicants for the Byrd scholarship this year in PA and 272 were awarded the $1500. Those who were lucky 10.5% to receive one - go play the lottery! Congrats…and at least that will help pay for books.</p>
<p>^Well, it’s good to know you’ve received some closure. That’s a lot of applicants.</p>
<p>Has anyone in NY gotten a “no” letter yet?</p>
<p>I’m no financial genius, but if my assumptions are correct, and you have some discipline, you can get by paying only one origination fee. This only works for a subsidized loan, where you do not pay any interest until you graduate from or leave school. </p>
<p>The plan does not work, meaning it won’t save you any money, if you or your parents have any unsubsidized loans (loans where interest accumulates or payments must be made while you are in school). In that case, use the Byrd money to reduce the unsubsidized loans by the $1500 as soon as you get it.</p>
<p>But if you have no unsubsidized loans - proceed.
- I assume the scholarship is for $1500 per year.
- I assume you are an entering freshman.
- I assume the Byrd scholarship will be renewed every year for 4 years total.
- I assume, as ksharonda10 stated, that the scholarship will not be paid until early spring, after you already have paid both fall and spring tuition.
- I assume your subsidized loan limit is $1500 more than you would have to borrowed if your Byrd payments arrived in time to pay the bills. If you take an unsubsidized loan this approach will not save you any money.
- I assume you have financial discipline and can leave $1500 in the bank for a year knowing you need it for the next year’s expenses.</p>
<p>Here’s what you do: Borrow the money you need, and pay for your fall and spring expenses. In effect, you will have borrowed $!500 more than you would have borrowed if the Byrd scholarship money arrived when you needed it.</p>
<p>When the Byrd money arrives in the spring, put it in a bank savings account and don’t touch it. (That’s the discipline part - if you spend that $1500, you blow up the whole plan, but a Byrd scholar is smart enough to not do that!) You don’t need it now - you’ve paid your bills. Don’t pay off the extra $1500 you borrowed. Remember you are not paying any interest on that amount, but you did pay an origination fee based on that amount. You don’t want to pay that again. </p>
<p>Each semester after that, rather than borrowing the amount of the late Byrd payment, take out $750 from the savings account and use it to pay bills. When your late Byrd payment arrives in the spring each year, put it back in the bank for the next year. However, if you or your parents ever take out an unsubsidized loan stop this plan and pay the money against that expensive unsubsidized loan.</p>
<p>In your senior year, in the spring, when your Byrd money arrives for the last time, pay off $1500 of your subsidized loan before it starts accumulating interest. Congratulations - you just borrowed $1500 for 3.5 years for a total of $22.50. In 3.5 years, your savings account might earn that much interest, or more. If so throw yourself a dollar-menu private graduation party at Taco Bell.</p>
<p>Sure, you subsidized your Taco Bell party out of the pockets of the American taxpayers, or more accurately, out your own future pockets since you will be among the ones to pay off the mountain of Federal debt, so don’t feel bad.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This sounds like a great plan! $22.50 is petty when 4 years will cost me >$160,000 (This is the grand total, not subtracting the free aid I worked hard to recieve).</p>
<p>And with my loan options, I can take up to $8,500 sub’bed yearly ($5,000 being a subsidized Perkins b/c I am low income and $3,500 being a subsidized Direct loan). My personal goal is to take NO unsubsudized money while getting my bachelor’s.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that we were allowed to take out Byrd money and put in a bank account. Even though it goes to my school directly, my school will then give it to me? This being the case, I would just put the money in a high-interest CD or something, collect the interest, Upon graduation, I would cash them in and pay off as much subsidized debt with the undergraduate nest egg I built.</p>
<p>anyone from ohio gotten a letter? I heard from my principal that I got the scholarship, but never heard officially from scholarship foundation…</p>
<p>To seni0r10</p>
<p>Just got done with a Q/A with the Financial Services office at University of Illinois (Urbana). Here was the question I asked and the response I received:</p>
<p>Q: If a scholarship is paid late, like November or so, and I have already paid the entire balance due before the scholarship was paid, can I get a refund for the credit balance in my account?
A: Yes, you would receive a refund. You would need to be enrolled in direct deposit for the refund.</p>
<p>The part about direct deposit is specific to UIUC, but you should be able to a refund of money you paid before the scholarship was paid to your account.</p>
<p>I know my original post was long-winded. The idea in a nutshell is to not pay interest, and to pay the origination fee only once in four years.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>Just as an FYI, I contacted Indiana and they are not announcing winners until the federal funding is approved, probably a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Anyone from WA heard anything? Do they announce non-winners (if you were a finalist)?</p>
<p>NJ is out, notification came by e-mail, not regular mail, on June 25th.</p>