<p>My d attends Emerson in Boston, and has yet to receive her financial aid package for her sophomore year. We received last year's in April. I was told they would be mailed out in mid-June.
Is this the usual practice for returning undergrads in other schools?
This does not give us much time to plan or come up with funding (i.e. loans) by the August 1 tuition deadline.
Given the economic outlook and publicized scarcity of student loans, I am very concerned that my daughter may not be returning to college.
Any advice?</p>
<p>My dd (4th yr) received her FA pkg a couple weeks ago but my son (2nd yr) isn't expecting his until the end of June. Different schools, different policies. Son's school was dealing with waitlists for 1st yr students, which probably postpones things a bit. Plus, his school has implemented some changes to FA so that delay things a bit, too.</p>
<p>My dd's FA pkg has changed very little over the years. She actually received a slightly larger grant after freshman yr and an additional merit award - probably due to a high GPA.</p>
<p>Well...don't know if it's "normal" but we're still waiting for DD's package as well. DS got his in May.</p>
<p>I'm glad this thread was started. We're still waiting also. I am told it should be end of June, since the first payment on the payment plan is due at the end of July!</p>
<p>We're waiting, too. Certainly makes financial planning a little more nerve-wracking (as if we needed that!)</p>
<p>D's financial aid info isn't available until 6/15. It was only available in April the first year.</p>
<p>Thank you all for replying. I am hoping the financial package is the same as last year, although the person in the FA office said they had a great increase in freshmen and transfers to handle first. I hope they left some funding for us!</p>
<p>Still waiting here too for rising soph son's package
I am getting very nervous as our AGI increased by about 11K resulting in an increased FAFSA EFC of nearly 7K
Not to cry poor mouth, but I am really worried with food, oil, gas prices.
My home heating oil budget payment for this upcoming year has gone from $200 a month to $600 a month---that will eat up alot of my increase in income</p>
<p>Our D will also be a sophomore and her package was just posted on-line this morning. We, too, had been concerned because the only thing that was showing up was her renewed Merit Scholarship (thank goodness!) but there was nothing else listed. She emailed her FA counselor and was told that returning students packages are prepared mid-June. They upped her Work Study a bit, offered us a Parent Loan option (wasn't that generous - LOL), and offered both subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans. That's about it - we don't qualify for need-based aid. BTW - can anyone explain to me the difference between the two kinds of Stafford Loans? I've never quite understood it and H tried to explain it this AM, but I was late for work already.</p>
<p>Subsidized means that the government pays the interest for the student from the time they borrow the money until the time they have to start paying it back (6 months after graduation). There is interest accruing for all those months, but the borrower is not on the hook for it - if they took out a loan of $2000, then at payback time, the balance is still $2000.</p>
<p>Unsubsidized means that the student does have to pay all the interest that accumulates between the time of borrowing and the time of paying back. There are two ways to do it. The student (or their generous parents) can pay it all along, while the student is in school. This might be one or two hundred dollars per year, depending on the loan size. The other option is to have the interest payments added on to the principal - basically, fold them into the loan. So if you borrow $2000 and defer the interest payments for 3 years, then when you start paying the loan back the principal will have increased to almost $2500.</p>
<p>FinAid has many useful calculators, including one that compares the cost of capitalizing the interest (adding it onto the loan) vs. paying it all along. It's called the "Cost of Interest Capitalization" and you'll find it on the list at finaid.org/calculators.</p>
<p>Thanks, Calreader. We'll have to figure out which is the best way to do the interest on the unsubsidized. They did not offer both last year, so it never was an issue.</p>
<p>Both of my DD's who attended UCs would normally see the package in JULY. There was very little difference from year to year, all the differences related to EFC that year- more or less- and things like ACG becoming SMART etc. </p>
<p>It may be different at privates.</p>
<p>The lateness of receiving renewal packages is one thing to consider when faced with transfer decisions and also of concern if a school is reputed to substitute loans for grants in later years.</p>
<p>At my Ds school, if financial aid being distributed late causes a late fee, that fee is waived once the the aid is disbursed.</p>
<p>My son hadn't gotten his from a LAC by June 6th, so we emailed the financial aid office and they were just in the process of sending his out -- we got it on Monday.</p>
<p>Rising senior daughter received hers in last week in April (same day for the past 3 years) and son, rising junior, does not receive his until week of 7/15. Two different schools, two different policies.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>My son is a rising junior and we didn't get ours
yet...I think last year it was early July.</p>
<p>it would be nice to get the FA pkg before the bill for fall semester (coming soon!) don'tcha think. I can't even apply for the stafford loan until they do the FA pkg (I think).</p>
<p>But if you tell them that you are accepting the loan (or applying for it or whatever), they will credit that amount tentatively to your bill and you don't have to pay it up front. At least many schools do this.</p>
<p>Chedva, I don't think you can accept the loan until it's offered to you!!</p>
<p>Right, I understand that! What I meant was that when you get the FA award, you accept whatever loans you want to accept (which are offered), and the Bursar credits that amount to your bill. You send in a check for the rest (or your monthly payments are calculated on the basis of the reduced amount due). Then you apply for the loan and have the moneys distributed to the school. </p>
<p>My point was that even if you don't have the funds on the payment due date, you're not charged penalties or interest on that amount.</p>
<p>I got the bill for my college senior - no financial aid reflected and have not gotten an award. We were sent, the end of May a 2nd request for financial aid verification..... it was completed and sent back a couple of weeks ago.
My d was home for 3 weeks and I told her we never got the first request and she just shrugged - she never worries about anything.
Yesterday I called financial aid about the award and bill - and advised them we never got the first request for verification. She gave me the info over the form and said first requests are sent to the student's mailbox - so if they never check their mail....... </p>
<p>Anyway - I am not worried about the bill - I will just figure it out with the aid.</p>