State Need grant

<p>Hello CC community! The college I intend on going to is the University of Washington. On their website there is an aid calculator where it estimated how much aid I would be eligible for. On it was something called the State Need grant and next to it said I was eligible for more than 10,000, which surprised me. My question, what exactly is this? I had never heard of it before then, and do other colleges offer this? Thanks for your time!</p>

<p>If you’re instate for Washington, and your income is low enough, then you’ll get state aid at some schools (likely only Washington schools). You’ll need to check to see if you’d get that same money at Washington private schools. </p>

<p>it’s doubtful that you’d get that money if you attended an OOS school.</p>

<p>See [State</a> Need Grant | WSAC](<a href=“http://www.wsac.wa.gov/PayingForCollege/StateAid/NeedGrant]State”>http://www.wsac.wa.gov/PayingForCollege/StateAid/NeedGrant)</p>

<p>So I have another question, The UW website says I would be eligible for this grant, but my fafsa only says pell grant and Stafford loan, so I’m confused. I am in state and we are below the average in Washington.</p>

<p>FAFSA determines FEDERAL aid. It would have no business suggesting what state aid you might get.</p>

<p>The FAFSA only determines eligibility for those two things. Eligibility for state loan programs is either determined by your state or by your school.</p>

<p>Federal Department of Education process FAFSA and it only knows about federal grants & loans.</p>

<p>Base on FAFSA (some states have their own forms), the states also provide you the state grants & loans.</p>

<p>NPC of UW should list out

  1. Federal grants - Pell & SEOG
  2. Federal loans - sub & unsub Direct loans, Perkins loans.
  3. WA State Need Grant</p>

<p>DD was accepted to UW. We didn’t send her there because tuition was $56K? I think. Her loans covered half of that. So $10k is ~1/4 of what you would need to go there-unless your fees are lower for instate.</p>

<p>UWash is a state school, and since the student is instate (hence the state grant), their tuition is MUCH lower. </p>

<p>Tuition is about $12k…and basic costs are about $23k (tuition, fees, room, board, books). </p>

<p>So, with the state aid, Pell grant, fed loans, Work-study, some summer earnings and maybe some kind of other institutional aid, the student might have all costs covered.</p>

<p>Yeah, I wanted to go to the U of Minn for an internship opportunity but the notion of less than 20k debt for undergrad is too good.</p>

<p>I’m an instate WA student, and yes, you can get that grant if you qualify. Familiarize yourself with the income cutoffs and be aware of your income (and your parents if applicable), it’s not difficult to fall into a category that receives less grant aid. Especially if you or your parents have 401k or pretax retirement contributions, which are added back to your income.</p>

<p>Also, DO NOT miss the deadline posted by the college to complete financial aid forms. Washington State Need Grant money does run out, and if you apply even one day late, you will get nothing. I cannot stress this enough, I’ve seen it happen to several classmates. It’s a lot of money and is a huge help, do everything in your power to make it happen if you qualify. It’s in addition to any federal aid like PELL, SEOG, or Stafford loans.</p>

<p>If you are eligible for a full WSNG, combined with federal aid, it’s set up so that you have enough grant aid to pay for tuition/fees, and probably even books. You must attend a Washington 4yr public or community college university to get it, and the amount is different for each school.</p>