<p>If a student's FAFSA EFC is below the schools COA, is the student automatically qualified for a subsidized Stafford loan, or is that only if the EFC is particularly low, like for the Pell grant?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I would say neither…the split between sub and unsub Staffords is based on the remaining need, after EFC and other FA.</p>
<p>Eligibility for sub loans is COA-EFC-all other need based aid (grants, scholarships, work study, Perkins loans if the latter two are awarded prior to sub loans).</p>
<p>So if a school guarantees to meet need, and there’s, say, 25K in need (COA-EFC) would the student definitely get subsidized loans as part of that 25K package (assuming the school is not meeting all need with scholarships/grants) or could all the student’s loans end up being unsubsidized? How is it determined how much each student gets in sub loans? I don’t really get the “prior” thing because presumably the school makes up that package “all at once” and they can apply the pieces in whatever order makes sense.</p>
<p>“Prior” in the sense that schools decide the order in which they award need based aid. Some award work study before sub loans, others award it after (same with Perkins). (Sometimes there isn’t even any work study or Perkins for a given student)</p>
<p>Freshmen CAN get $3500 in sub loans. They DO get $5500 in a mix of sub/unsub loans (as long as all aid doesn’t exceed COA). If there is need, they can get all $3500 sub (the other $2000 would be unsub). They can also get any other kind of mix.</p>
<p>Let’s say COA is $30,000. EFC is $10,000. Scholarship is $15,000. Work study is $2200. COA-EFC-Need based aid=30000-10000-15000-2200=$2800. In this case, sub can only be awarded in the amount of remaining need, which is $2800. </p>
<p>Now to determine unsub eligibility: COA-Need based aid=30000-15000-2200-2800=$10,000. Since the sub/unsub mix for a freshman can only be $5500, the unsub for this student can only be $5500-2800 sub=$2700 unsub.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed explanation, kelsmom!</p>