<p>Everyone talks about receiving an award letter. UCF said they mailed it but I never received it. They said that I could find the same information online. Here is what I saw:</p>
<p>Aid Year </p>
<p>Award Description Category Offered
Direct Unsubsidized Loan-Fall Loan 1,000.00
Direct Unsubsidized Loan - Spg Loan 1,000.00
Direct Subsidized Loan - Fall Loan 1,750.00
Direct Subsidized Loan - Spg Loan 1,750.00
Aid Year Totals 5,500.00 </p>
<p>Aid Year Institution Aid Year Description
2013 University of Central Florida Award access not available.
2012 University of Central Florida Award access not available. </p>
<p>Estimated Financial Aid Budget Breakdown </p>
<p>Fall 2012
Category Description Amount
Books and Supplies 573.00
Room and Board 4,650.00
Personal 1,138.00
Transportation 900.00
Tuition 2,903.00
Term Total 10,164.00 </p>
<p>Spring 2013
Category Description Amount
Books and Supplies 573.00
Room and Board 4,650.00
Personal 1,138.00
Transportation 900.00
Tuition 2,903.00
Term Total 10,164.00
Total Cost of Attendance 20,328.00 </p>
<p>I am missing something? 'Cause that does not look like an award package. So far my S qualifies for Bright Future and we have Florida Prepaid. Where are all the generous packages I read about. Am I the only one in this situation? What does the above mean?</p>
<p>I am new on here, but have been reading a very helpful blog… thecollegesolution.com and Lynn explains in detail how to decipher these FA letters and all the “misleading” terminology used to present financial aid. These are clearly loans and not grants… perhaps the Bright Futures, etc. is in another letter?</p>
<p>After you check out her blog and the recent posts relevant to these aid letters, I would call the FA office and ask for clarification.</p>
<p>Thanks, I will check out blog.</p>
<p>my S qualifies for Bright Future and we have Florida Prepaid. Where are all the generous packages I read about</p>
<p>If you’ve read about “generous pkgs” from Florida publics then likely those were to low income students (Pell qualified) who also have Bright Futures…or those with merit scholarships for high stats.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re beyond Pell, so there wouldn’t be any “free money” for you beyond Bright Futures.</p>
<p>Since you have a FL pre-paid and BF…that covers a lot of the Direct school costs… They’ve given $5500 in loans for the rest of need. Then you’re supposed to pay your EFC and whatever gap is left. Is there much gap??</p>
<p>What was your EFC? It must be beyond $5k.</p>
<p>Florida Publics don’t promise to meet need and they don’t usually give great need-based pkgs to those who aren’t low income with BF. </p>
<p>Some of those with “great pkgs” may have some merit scholarships in them for high test scores. .</p>
<p>Thank you so much; now I can understand. My EFC was a little over 12,000 and he was a little above average on test scores. For me, what is boils down to is if I didn’t have the prepaid, BF and his 529 Plan, I would be looking at a whole lot of loans. I will pay full sticker price.</p>
<p>Thank you so much; now I can understand. My EFC was a little over 12,000 and he was a little above average on test scores. For me, what is boils down to is if I didn’t have the prepaid, BF and his 529 Plan, I would be looking at a whole lot of loans. I will pay full sticker price.</p>
<p>Right…that’s pretty much the way it is at most publics. Be grateful that you have BF. Families in other states who have EFCs beyond Pell often find that they receive no “free money” and must pay all costs. </p>
<p>That’s why MOST kids don’t go away to school. Most either commute to their local state school or community college. Most can’t afford the cost of tuition, room, board, and books, so they have to commute to eliminate R&B costs.</p>
<p>If you couldn’t pay full cost, then your child would likely be one of the millions of kids who commutes. </p>
<p>Since you have an EFC of $12k, then you’re in a very good position. BF is covering how much? $4k per year? (more or less?). And you have a pre-paid for tuition (about $6k).</p>
<p>So, with those two things, you have about $10k towards costs. Add in your EFC of $12k and you have everything covered. </p>
<p>If your son’s test scores had been well within the upper quartile, then he might have been offered some merit scholarship money.</p>
<p>I felt that there was an “award package” conspiracy that I was not a part of. Finally, I have clear answers as to why my award package looks like a loan package.</p>
<p>Last question, with an EFC of $12,000, the FAFSA people are assuming that I should be able to up with $12,000 from either private loans or from college savings?</p>
<p>The EFC is expected to come from some combination of past income (savings), current income, and future income (loans). Each family gets to figure out for itself how to balance those three sources.</p>
<p>The EFC that FAFSA generated basically qualifies low income kids for PELL–you don’t make that cut. It also qualifies your Student for Stafford loans. Anyone can take out loans for up to $5500. If you qualify for enough need then a portion of that amount would be subsidized. No interest accrual while in school and a lower interest rate. </p>
<p>What really counts is how much are you going to have to pay. Loans are just future payments, so they don’t count. Also that same Stafford loan from the government can be used at any accredited college. The college isn’t giving you a thing when you kid get that.</p>
<p>So take the total estimated COA (cost of attendance ) for the school of $20,3283, and subtract out what BF is giving your student. Then subtract out what you get for freshman year in the prepaid (I don’t understand how that one works). You, then, have to come up with what is left. Whether that is $12K or not, I don’t know, and the school doesn’t care. Your kid is allowed to borrow $5500 towards the cost and then between you and him, you have to come up with the rest either through savings, current income or YOU borrowing money, because he is tapped out at $5500. If you get turned down by PLUS for a parent loan, he can get an additional $4K in Stafford funds.</p>
<p>Bluntly, UCF did not give your kid a dime–nothing. Everything is coming from the federal government (Stafford loans), the state (BF), your savings (Prepaid) and where ever else you and your student can get money.</p>
<p>I felt that there was an “award package” conspiracy that I was not a part of. Finally, I have clear answers as to why my award package looks like a loan package.</p>
<p>Yes…I’ve never liked that term “award” because for many, it’s just loans.</p>
<p>Can you explain how Florida Prepaid works? Is it in your student’s name?</p>
<p>I felt that there was an “award package” conspiracy that I was not a part of. Finally, I have clear answers as to why my award package looks like a loan package.</p>
<hr>
<p>But this IS an “award” package. You might not like your awards (understandably), but they are awards just the same. Your child can borrow $5500 with no credit check … “guaranteed.” </p>
<p>I realize that it s**ks when all you get is loans. But the truth is, for those with EFC’s much above Pell range, there won’t be much in the way of aid besides loans (at least for public schools - and for many private schools, too). But again, the loans are aid.</p>
<p>The problem is not the terminology or the award letters. The problem is the lack of understanding of financial aid by MOST people … including those who tell folks that “the aid is great” … including misguided guidance counselors.</p>
<p>FL Prepaid is probably like MI’s … you buy a certain number of credits & can use them at any state school (in MI, you can purchase for CC or for uni, with different costs). If you go somewhere other than the state publics, you get the “average cost” to use elsewhere.</p>
<p>In MI, they are not just for a named person. If your kid doesn’t use the prepaid for whatever reason, someone else in the family can. </p>
<p>For aid purposes, the prepaid is reported on the FAFSA as an asset - the value of the prepaid at that point in time - on the parent side. Until a few years ago, the distribution was actually counted the same as scholarships/grants when calculating aid packages. That made no sense, of course (the parents had saved like they were supposed to, so why penalize them more than they would be penalized for any other type of saving?), and now they are a reported asset instead of “aid.”</p>
<p>I agree with the OP in the sentiments that offering up a federal loan that would have been available anywhere as something the school is giving is not the way awards should be done. She got zero, zip, zilch from the school. They were not even complete in doing that, as the BF award from the state is not included.</p>
<p>The school can’t put the state award on if the state hasn’t given them a roster with the student’s award on it. Our state awards weren’t ready until Christmas!</p>
<p>So I guess the preference is for the school to give an award letter with … nothing on it. Because that is all that is available (other than the loans that I guess shouldn’t be there?).</p>
<p>Well, just about everyone and anyone can get the Stafford’s. The only news there for the OP is that some of it is subsidized. I’m a bit touchy about the way some of these awards get presented, Kelsmom. I’ve seen even seen PLUS set out as though it were awarded, not something for which the parents have to apply and qualify for. </p>
<p>Ideally, the award would read something like this: Though your FAFSA EFC is $12K and our estimated COA is $20,328, we have not been able to award you any financial aid. However, you are entitled to borrow $5500 from the federal Stafford Loan Program, with $3500 of this loan possibly subsidized. You also may be eligible for a Bright Futures award from the state of Florida. Your parents may also borrow from the PLUS Direct loans. Information about these programs are available at <a href=“http://www…%5B/url%5D”>www…</a>…</p>
<p>In this case, the parent and student are going to have to come up with the entire cost other than what Bright Futures will pay. Fortunately, the parent has saved for college, and some money can come from the savings. Hopefully there is enough in the 529, so that the parent can swing this with with minimal loans.</p>
<p>I get that, and I understand. However, a school cannot choose to rebrand federal loans into something they are not … they are currently considered by the federal government to be financial aid.</p>
<p>I do agree about not packaging in PLUS. This was a big point of contention with me when I worked in finaid. I think it is wrong to add it to a package … it is not an award in the sense that other federal loan are awards (and this also applies to Grad PLUS), because it is not for-sure. In addition, a $30,000 PLUS loan doesn’t belong in anyone’s “aid” - pretending that borrowing that much is okay is w-r-o-n-g. Maybe it’s okay for some, but not for most. I think PLUS should have its own section on the award letter, with an explanation that it is available, not guaranteed, for the parent, etc.</p>
<p>CPTofthehouse is so right - it would make more sense to word the award letters in such a way that it is easier to understand.</p>
<p>I now laugh when I see statements in college websites where they state that “90% of our students qualify for some sought of finaid”. What they don’t say is that 85% of that “financial aid” are in the form of loans.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Not only does it mislead people when schools say that “90% of our students receive financial aid”, it really misleads when a school says it awards XX millions in financial aid…when most of it is loans. No wonder people wrongly think that colleges have treasure chests to dig into.</p>
<p>The Staffords are not financial aid except when subsidized. Anyone can get that loan as long as they pass the vetting through FAFSA… No need needed.</p>