To ask...or not to ask...

Paying for College
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<p>So, d has just finished her sophomore year of college. She's competed for and been awarded several major scholarships, for which she and her family will forever be grateful. The f.a. office coordinates her awards, most of which state they are available for 8 semesters, as long as she meets GPA criteria, etc. Not a problem. Several of her awards are dollar-specific -- she receives $5000 annually for NMS (part University-sponsored). She receives another specific amount for a named scholarship, 1/2 tuition from a Presidential award, and the balance -- everything but books and toothpaste -- is paid by the they-only-give-this-to-10-kids-a-year competitive award. </p>

<p>Obviously, every semester the figures of the non-fixed awards change, as fees go up, her meal plan changes, etc. The U has graciously paid the overages of living in the Honors dorm and when she's gone into course overload, they have adjusted the award to full coverage of that as well. </p>

<p>So it seems kind of fluid....and thus leads to the question. She's doing an internship for credit this summer (not on campus). She'll be billed out-of-state tuition for those credits. So...since it's summer semester, I suppose it's possible that could count as a semester of scholarship eligibility (we did check online, and that's the case with the Presidential award). I know the NMS monies will only be available to her during the fall/spring semesters, same with the named/fixed dollar award. But the 10-kid award...wonder if there's any flexibility there to cover these summer bills.</p>

<p>Reason I'm thinking of this is that the 10-kid award itself is stated to cover the "everything but books and toothpaste" costs. It seems that several of the 10-kids do receive other awards -- a couple other NMS she knows of, some Presidential for sure.... But if the 10-kid monies are earmarked to cover all fees....</p>

<p>Anyway, from the description of the 10-kid: "This award honors 10 remarkably talented students each year. The award covers full tuition/fees and room and board and is renewable for a total of eight semesters, subject to annual review." </p>

<p>So...8 semesters is sounding like if she uses it for summer, that leaves her a semester short (she will not be graduating early, as she's got a double major and a minor). The fees for this summer are significantly less than fall/spring semesters. So all this explanation to wonder if it's worth rattling the chains of the f.a. office to see if any money can be squished into summer, or if that could confuse things, and possibly mess up a semester of scholarship-funded tuition at the end.</p>

<p>I know only the school can give us the answer to the question of whether -- but here I'm ruminating over "should we even ask?" Part of me says -- sure -- they can always say no..but another part of me doesn't want to mess w/the award as it stands and risk messing things up...it is a truly generous and appreciated award.</p>

<p>Thoughts -- to ask, or not to ask?</p>

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<p>Absolutely, you should ask. Awards tend to given as the terms are set, and asking for more or about what it covers, won’t change that. But if you don’t know and you don’t do the paperwork on time, you can lose out. I’ve known kids who have lost out on things because of that, by the way. They didn’t think it would cover, felt uncomfortable asking, and then found out others got money, and when they asked, the answer was, yes, it would have been covered, but you are too late. Fiscal years close books and sometimes you can be out of luck if you miss deadlines.</p>

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<p>Always ask. The worst that happens is you don’t get the answer you want, but you still get an answer.</p>

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<p>It sounds like she gets over the COA in scholarships by what you have written. If the 10-kid one covers just about everything, and then another covers 1/2 tuition, right there is one and a half tuitions covered. Can’t they apply some of the excess to a summer of expenses? Have you been paying taxes on the room and board portion of scholarships along with all the excess? Sounds like it could get a bit nuts in the accounting for all the extra…</p>

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<p>First of all…Just ask, it won’t hurt. </p>

<p>If not, then it sounds like you should have money left over each semester from all those scholarships, considering one does Roam and Boar and Full Tuition and the other does Half tuition, and I believe a couple of others you mentioned were there too. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you should have money left over each semester then right? A lot of Financial Aid offices will give you the leftover money from your account in a check in the students name, or just transfer it to a 529 or normal checking account. Just have the leftover money transferred over and use it for Summer.</p>

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<p>Email sent to f.a…we’ll see what happens.</p>

<p>The awards are adjusted so that she does not receive anything over what is billed – so the 10 kid award is reduced by the others to just a zeroed out bill, no refund (would be lovely if she could receive the total amounts…).</p>

<p>Yes, she has been paying taxes on the room and board portion. Does not receive any of the excess amounts. </p>

<p>That’s why we’re hoping that perhaps one of the awards could be used for summer, allowing the 10 kid to increase in a subsequent semester to cover the missing one. </p>

<p>Fingers crossed…got a “read receipt” – we’ll see what they decide. Bill is due June 1…hope they think fast.</p>

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<p>Please keep us posted…</p>

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<p>Well, asked and answered. Nope. If she took any of her future semesters’ eligibility for summer, it would end up messing her up down the road – and the fees for 2 credit hours are significantly less than the full-time, housing included costs of a semester. </p>

<p>It was worth a shot…</p>

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<p>Please don’t take this the wrong way but - without her having been in college yet, you really have no way of knowing this for certain.</p>

<p>College is a new world … away from home … new and greater responsibilities … more distractions … more “temptations” …</p>

<p>Maintaining a B in college is a lot different than maintaining a B in high school. Not saying she won’t. Just saying … be prepared, and best of luck!</p>

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<p>Hi, GolfFather – my post begins “so d has just finished her sophomore year in college.” She’s halfway through, grades have posted…she’s still holding that collegiate 4.0 So, yeah – know college is a different world, and it’s one in which she thrives, and can hardly believe she’s halfway through.</p>

<p>We continue to be grateful for the scholarships she’s received, proud of her as she works so hard, and know we’ll blink and it will be 2015, and she’ll have her college degree.</p>

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<p>Are the internship credits required for her program? </p>

<p>I attend a comparatively inexpensive commuter school, where many students in my program do internships, but most cannot afford to pay extra for the credits. An internship is not required for graduation at our school. Most of us just get an internship, collect our paycheck, and put it on our resume - it is very important to our major. It seems to irritate the department when we don’t pay for the credit. Frankly, it’s always made me angry - why would I PAY $1000 for a job I’M working just to have it on my transcript as credit? I know Career Services sometimes lists the job, and I’m thankful for their help, but I could have gotten an internship without them (and mostly did). Obviously, this is not a problem if you’re already paying tuition in a fall/spring semester and you don’t go into overload by adding the internship credit.</p>

<p>I was able to “push” my internship into a different quarter. For example, I started my internship in early February (quarter is over the end of March). Internship ended the last day of April. They let me add/get the credit in Spring quarter rather than Winter quarter. I was able to hit full-time credits in Spring quarter, even though I’m really only taking 9 credits worth of classes (because I did “extra” work mostly in the Winter quarter that wasn’t counted). I also have significant scholarships, so doing it this way did not affect my awards nor require me to pay extra. </p>

<p>So, you might consider calling your school to see if the internship can be counted in the Fall semester, even if most of the work is done in the summer. Perhaps if you can extend the internship into the fall semester just a little bit, it might validate this idea.</p>

<p>Whether required or not, it’s ridiculous to “penalize” a student for getting an internship in a quarter they’re otherwise not attending.</p>

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<p>Interesting idea, carebear77, and I am very glad it worked out for you. Yes, the internship is required for her major, it must be done for at least 2 credits, working a minimum of 20 hours a week for 10 weeks. With her course of study planned out (double major and a minor), she’s already in overload for at least the next 3 semesters, and the school does almost a “co-op” plan with the internship people…very intensely involved. </p>

<p>We feel this will be a productive summer, the internship is very closely aligned with what she wants to do in the future, comes with an “almost” job offer for when she’s graduated (dependent on funding at the nonprofit workplace) and she is able to live at home to cut costs (she was also offered some opportunities in distant cities, and somehow would have had to come up with living expenses…). </p>

<p>We knew she needed to do this for credit, knew it would have to be over a summer logistically, are more than satisfied with the scholarships she receives during the school years…would have been lovely if the funding were more flexible, but she can pay it with her earnings from her school-year job.</p>

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<p>Apologies. My fault for trying to get in a couple of reads while on my break and reading to fast. Congrats to your daughter! Job well done so far.</p>

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<p>Hey, GolfFather – no offense taken (I am also guilty of speedreading posts on a break). Your comments and reminders are good for a student, no matter what point in their college program, to hear – every semester, every professor, is a new adventure.</p>