Summer Financial Aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello Everyone!
First post here so take it easy on me. I am a seasoned financial aid veteran, having walked the ropes for many years with different financial aid offices, but I am now in new territory. I need to figure this out with your help. I will go over this as clear as I can, but if you need clarification, please just ask.</p>

<p>I am applying for this program that starts this coming Summer (Summer of 2013). I was led to believe that this summer was included in the prior academic year (2012-2013). My program then carries into the coinciding Fall and Spring semester. Technically, I have things to do the following summer (Summer 2014) but none of it is class related, and I will owe no money to the school since I will not be attending any class. So basically, I need financial aid for Summer 2013, Fall 2013, and Spring 2014. These are all Stafford loans that will count against my graduate degree limit, and since I will be entering medical school afterwards (at least I am hoping with all my heart), then my aggregate loan limit is 200,000+. </p>

<p>I had emailed one program and they said many students take advantage of the academic year split, requesting full loan amounts in the Summer (since they had not borrowed the previous fall or spring) and then full amounts again for the Fall/Spring semesters. This other program I had just emailed said that I will only be able to borrow 20,500 for the entire year. I tried to explain to the financial aid lady that the summer session was 2013 and even though I will be enrolled technically in summer 2014, i would not need any aid for THAT summer.</p>

<p>What I need to cleared up is this: if i did not borrow Fall 2012/Spring 2013, can i borrow the full loan amount for Summer 2013 and then again for the following year in Fall 2013/Spring 2014? Just for clerical issues, I have no defaulted on any loans and have made all my payments on time since I graduated from my undergrad institution.</p>

<p>Also, the only reason I am looking at doing this is because the program is 16-months, and costs more than the amount provided by Stafford loans. Yes, I can look into private loans but I do not want to borrow any. I want to try and see if I can snag this route, because it is easier in the long run. I do not have anyone that can cosign my private loan if i get denied, and it is a last resort. I have only been out of school for a year and I do not want to chance my credit up against tedious lenders.</p>

<p>I hope I made this as clear as possible. Again, if anyone is confused just ask me to clear it up and I will try my best. Thanks again for everyone's help :)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

2

<p>It depends on the school’s definition of their financial aid year. If the school has a summer header, summer '13 is included in the 13-14 award year. If the school has a summer trailer, summer '13 is included in the 12-13 award year. Some schools do employ a Borrower Based Aid Year (B-BAY), allowing them to award a bit differently than the typical award year … but schools won’t use BBAY unless that is their policy. I would say “most” schools are summer trailer, and “few” schools are BBAY.</p>

3

<p>Thanks a bunch for the response kelsmom. I sent the lady back another email to clarify myself and see if I can get some resolution as per what you have said with the B-BAY, or if they operate on a more normal financial aid schedule. </p>

<p>Of course that leaves things still open to interpretation. It just one hell of a confusing process for some people, and no matter how clear I think I am making myself, some people just do not get it. I hope I was clear enough this time around with my new email. Thanks a bunch for your help :)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

4

<p>Thanks a bunch for the response kelsmom. I sent the lady back another email to clarify myself and see if I can get some resolution as per what you have said with the B-BAY, or if they operate on a more normal financial aid schedule. The funny thing is, she said this:</p>

<p>You’ll be entitled to received up to $20,500 an academic year if you maintain 6 credits or more of enrollment for each semester. The loan would be for two semesters- Fall and Spring. You can receive the unsubsidized loan for a Summer session as well as long as you haven’t exhausted or used up all of the $20,500 that was awarded to you within the academic year.</p>

<p>My advice to you is just be very cautious of what you want to accept for the academic year. If you’re enrolled for lets say 6 credits and your bill comes out to $2250 for the semester then you will not need all of the $10250 (which is half of the $20,500).</p>

<p>The lifetime limit for a Graduate/Professional to receive in the unsubsidized loan is up to $138,500. For Health Professionals it is $224,000.</p>

<p>Of course that leaves things still open to interpretation. It just one hell of a confusing process for some people, and no matter how clear I think I am making myself, some people just do not get it. I hope I was clear enough this time around with my new email. Thanks a bunch for your help </p>

<p>Dan</p>

5

<p>I know it’s confusing to you, but here is what it says in a nutshell: You will be awarded $20,500 for the normal school year, which is fall and spring. You must carry at least 6 credits in a term to receive the loan for that term; the loan pays out 1/2 the annual award ($20,500) in each term.</p>

<p>From the email you posted, it appears your school is a summer trailer … summer is the end of the year, and you can use any unused annual eligibility in the summer (say you borrowed less than $10,250 each term of fall & winter, or you didn’t borrow in fall but borrowed in winter). You can double-check by asking: If I begin my schooling this summer, and if I did not borrow any money at any school in the fall of 2012 or the spring of 2013, can I borrow this summer and STILL borrow $20,500 for fall 2013/spring 2014?</p>

<p>One thing I need to caution you about is the fact that even though you may have $20,500 of unused annual eligibility for 2012-13 that is all available for summer 2013, you may not be able to borrow half. Summer Cost of Attendance is often quite a bit lower than fall/winter COA, and you can only borrow up to the COA for the term. For example, where I used to work, the summer COA varied depending on the length of the individual’s classes (about a $2000 difference, depending). Most schools will not have the summer 2013 COA established yet, but a good financial aid counselor can explain this using last year’s numbers.</p>