So, son #1 STILL not totally set on either Ole Miss or UA yet (ugghhh). We are visiting UA once again in a week to spend some time in the Engineering and Honors Colleges (just got his Honors acceptance this week).
Just trying to build some comparisons…
From a little research here, it seems there is (for a lack of better words) a housing shortage at UA. For students that have scholarships over the cost of tuition (that cover part or all of room/board), what happens in year 2+ if there is no room for them on campus? Is that portion of the scholarship lost? I know he wants to live in Honors for his first year, but probably wants to stay on campus for the duration.
While I can’t answer your specific question regarding scholarships I can confirm that UA have recently announced that from 2017 onwards, all on campus housing will be exclusively for freshman. The only way that I know for upperclassman to remain on campus will be to become a Resident Advisor
No, no part of the scholarship is lost and in fact if students have additional scholarships from outside organizations/businesses they get those scholarships as well as the full scholarship from UA. UA will first apply the scholarships to tuition, then to other expenses such as fees and housing (if students are on campus) and meal plans and even misc charges such as parking and football tickets. If students still have an excess of funds they will receive that via direct deposit and can use it for other expenses.
If students do use scholarship money for expenses such as housing (on or off campus) that is not a valid ‘educational expense’ via the IRS and taxes will need to be paid on that portion of the scholarship funds.
You may want to drive by a complex like East Edge while you are visiting town. It sits right on the edge of campus, is fully furnished, and has many amenities. Then you can get a feel for what some of the off-campus housing is like. There is a wide range of housing options with a wide variety of amenities to fit a wide variety of budgets, but for a student who wants to remain on-campus, East Edge would be a good choice to look at.
So just for easy math - say our son had $7500 in additional merit aid (beyond full tuition). So let’s say son sticks with a large meal plan and we use $3600 annually for that. Add another $600-800 for books and supplies etc… Where does that remaining $3000 (annually) go? Is that dispersed directly to son (or us) in the form of some kind of check that we can then route to privatized housing?
I know that most folks plan for living off campus. We are in a unique situation where on campus is more ideal. Our son is deaf (oral with cochlear implant). On campus = alarm-linked bed shakers etc… That doesn’t come with any kind of privatized billeting. Equipping our house was several thousand dollars, and it is not an expense one can absorb every semester or year. He is so successful, it’s easy to forget that there are still some accommodations he needs, and this happens to be one we have to carefully watch.
I am going to seek out the housing team during our next visit and find out if he could perhaps have an exception to remain on campus. Not sure what the likelihood is, but it cannot hurt to ask.
I am sure housing does offer exceptions in special circumstances so it is worth speaking to them and they also check these message boards from time to time.
As for the excess funds, any excess funds over all expenses billed to the student account will be dispersed to the student via direct deposit to an account they will enter in the MyBama system. You can then use those funds for books and supplies, off-campus rent, or other expenses the student has.
If we’re talking about UA merit money, anything not applied to the UA bill will go to the student. My daughter had a CBH fellowship on top of the Presidential, and for her last couple years she lived off-campus and had no meal plan, so the only things on her bill were course fees, dining dollars, football tickets and a parking permit. That left a good chunk of scholarship money, which was direct deposited to her bank account.
I would definitely ask about an exception for getting on-campus housing. The worst they can do is say no, and although I’ve never had to deal with them on disability accommodations, I’ve always found the University to be very reasonable.
Ditto on what jrcsmom and beth’s mom said … all of it! When my son was a soph., it was great to have the “excess” scholarship funds go directly to his bank account (as a refund from UA)…it was then used to pay some of his apartment rent!
My son is a freshman at UA this year with the NMF scholarship and the engineering scholarship. His tuition and room are covered through his scholarship. He also has a stipend. The university paid fees (those perhaps added up to $500) and his meal plan out of the stipend. The rest was direct deposited into his bank account.
The kids also received an e-mail about housing this week. It stated MOST kids could NOT remain on campus next year, BUT there was an exception for medical reasons. I would definitely talk with housing when you visit. Since it is such an important safety concern for your ds, if he decides to attend UA I would get something in writing that says he is guaranteed on campus housing for as long as he attends Bama (in case it takes longer than 4 years). I really do not think this will be a problem, but it would be best to have it in writing.
I highly recommend talk to off campus apartments. I know multiple people with disabilities that have gotten accommodations at the apartments around town. For example, I know a gentleman who lives at east edge and is visually impaired. I believe he has special accommodations. I know Alabama in the past has allowed upperclassmen with disabilities stay on campus all four years. That might have changed. Only problem with that is having to get new freshman roommates every year.
The email the students received said that for fall 2017, on campus housing is reserved for freshman, and for (1) students who must live on campus for a university purpose (RA, FA, peer mentor), (2) students with a scholarship that requires a housing assignment through HRC, and (3) students with a medical reason that requires on campus living.
I would call the Office of Disability Services to gather information. During UA campus visit, I would also visit the office (make an appointment if you can).
Can confirm with other posters that any unused merit/other money does go to student. In addition to scholarship, DD has Pre-paid College Tuition funds (certain amount of money per credit hour), so DD receives funds back (which she then uses for her apt rent, and other necessities).
Can’t blame him for that. Back when the NMF package included 4 years of housing, there were NMF kids who felt penalized by their scholarship because their friends moved off-campus and they were stuck behind living with freshmen or other NMFs who would not have been the roommates they otherwise would have chosen. The University did make rooms available in a couple off campus complexes at various times when on-campus housing was over-subscribed, but those were considered “on campus” housing so you couldn’t live with “off-campus” friends in those complexes. I think they got away from that once Presidential was built. I know a couple parents who paid for their kids to move off-campus even though they could have lived on campus for free. Most upperclassmen don’t relish the idea of being on campus with freshmen roommates when their friends have moved off-campus.
