<p>I am curious why all the colleges where D applied for financial aid offered her the opportunity to take out a subsidized Stafford loan, except one college that did not. This college is near the top of her list in cost and offers no merit aid. She did not get any need based aid from them, either. I was under the impression that the interest on those subsidized loans is paid by the government and all payments are deferred until graduation. I can't understand one school would not offer it when the rest of them do. Does this maybe imply a mistake in their financial aid calculation? All the colleges have the same verision of the FAFSA, I assume. I emailed today asking them about it and also asking for a review of her FA overall, but wondered if anyone has any thoughts on this.</p>
<p>I was always under the impression that different colleges/unis had different total amounts of federal aid they were able to distribute for subsidized federal direct and Perkins loans and work/study, but I could be totally wrong. I asked the question with S1 about 6 years ago regarding work/study and subsidized loans and if i recall that was the answer I got. In this case at that time the uni said they had disbursed all the work/study and subsidized loans they had available and they ‘took care’ of the most needy first. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>I believe the subsidized Stafford can be given if the COA exceeds the EFC. Is there a difference in the COAs of the schools?</p>
<p>She applied for need based aid at 5 schools. This is the second most expensive. The other 4 all gave her subsidized loans, one also gave her a need based grant, and three of them also gave her merit aid (not relevant to this discussion, I think, as the school in question does not give any merit). The school in question is the only one who did not give a jot of any kind of aid – no nuthin, just an invitation to come and help pay the bills of those who were awarded FA. Ironically, this school has a reputation for being generous with aid. Guess not for us, though. :(</p>
<p>They do not tell us their final EFC calculation. Although the COA is almost double our FAFSA EFC (but there is an ex-spouse involved). All of her schools are FAFSA/PROFILE schools, so they mostly have the same info from me and her dad unless they had extra forms they requested.</p>
<p>Some institutions do not package any loans at all into their aid. In those cases, students normally do have the option to take out loans as part of the student and family contribution.</p>
<p>But since this institution has offered zip, I say kick it to the curb, and move on.</p>
<p>happymomof1, I would LOVE to kick this college to the curb. I have not been happy with a variety of things regarding how they have handled the admissions process. But… I actually think the most expensive college on D’s list (more than this one, although they did give a subsidized loan) is the best fit for her. It is kind of hard to tell her to dump this school mostly because I don’t like the cut of their jib administratively. But I shudder to think of dealing with them for the next four years, and am sending silent (and maybe a few verbally muttered) vibes to my kid to pick a different school.</p>
<p>Call the school and request the loans.</p>
<p>I sent them an email about it today, along with documentation from other schools that have given the loans. I am not expecting any luck, this is a school that has the strongest “bubble” keeping out the outside world that I have encountered yet. They will do what they always do. But I figured I might as well ask.</p>
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<p>True for Perkins, work study, and
SEOG, not for direct (aka Stafford).</p>
<p>As long as the school participates in federal aid programs (some, such as Hillsdale College, do not), she is eligible to take out a subsidized loan if COA-EFC-all scholarships (including outside scholarships)-federal work study>0 (up to $3500 for freshman year). If the school recalculated your EFC and it is > COA, there would be no subsidized eligibility. If the school does not include loans in its aid packages … and I have seen posts from many parents on CC who feel schools should not include loans in aid packages … she can ask for one, assuming the school participates in federal aid programs.</p>
<p>Thanks, kelsmom. You always know the answer! 
They do participate in the federal aid program. My D has no outside scholarships and was given no work study by this school. So it must be the way they calculate EFC internally. They must be coming up with a higher number than the other schools for EFC. An insanely high number, IMHO. But that must be the reason.</p>
<p>They should be using the FAFSA EFC for sub loans, though. Of course, they may have recomputed FAFSA EFC based on your tax returns (guessing you submitted those, as many private schools require them). I am wondering, though, if somehow her aid may never actually have been packaged. Did you receive an award letter? Did she receive a $5500 unsub loan?</p>
<p>Her FAFSA EFC is $33,672. COA for this school is $57,870 (does not include travel or books/expenses). And they have the tax returns. She got a letter that said, “We have carefully considered your financial aid application but find that your family has the capacity to meet your <college x=”"> education expenses without our scholarship support for the 2013-14 academic year". And later in the letter “A Federal Direct Stafford Loan of up to $5,500 will be available to you for the coming year”. They also talk about Direct Plus loans. No mention of a subsidized Stafford.</college></p>
<p>They are offering Stafford of $5500. Of that, $3500 will be sub and $2000 will be unsub.</p>
<p>Ah… I see that all the other colleges broke theirs down that way and showed the $3,500 subsidized & $2,000 unsubsidized. They just didn’t say so. Well, that answers that. Thanks, kelsmom.</p>
<p>I applied to an online college today. I am 42 and just now going back to college. I have no idea until today what to do. With that being said, I am getting a federal grant and I guess I am qualifying for $9500 for the direct stafford loan. The problem is that the school that I applied to does not accept that loan. Any ideas what online schools do accept that loan for Business Admin. going to a Bachelors degree?</p>
<p>See [Types</a> of Schools | Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/prepare-for-college/choosing-schools/types]Types”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/prepare-for-college/choosing-schools/types)
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